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, the united states is smashing coronavirus records but there are warnings post-thanksgiving, the worst is yet to come. president-elect joe biden makes history with his staffing picks while donald trump goes on a new rant about the election he refuses to concede. and morning mixurning mixese in iran over the funeral of its

top scientist. >> good to have you with us. top health officials are calling on americans to get tested for coronavirus after millions of people traveled over the thanksgiving holiday despite warnings not to. it is a situation that's you are jen -- urgent and here is why. more americans are hospitalized with the virus than at any point in the pandemic. the number is at 93,000, according to the covid tracking project, and data tracked by johns hopkins university show over 138,000 new cases and over 800 deaths reported on sunday. health experts are warning that cases will spike in the next two weeks just ahead of christmas. >> what we expect, unfortunately, as we go for the next couple of weeks into

december, that we might see a surge super posed upon that surge that we're already in. when i give that message, i don't want to frighten people except to say it is not too late at all for us to do something about this. >> we know people may have made mistakes over the thanksgiving time period, if you're young and you gathered, you need to be tested about five to ten days later, but you need to assume you're infected and not go near your grandparents and aunts and others without a mask. we're really asking families to even mask indoors, if they chose to gather during thanksgiving and others went across the country or even into the next state. natasha chen has more from the busiest airport. >> reporter: i talked to people

arriving home from atlanta after traveling during the holidays. their experiences varied depending on which airport they came from. sunday was the biggest travel day of the entire week at the atlantic airport, officials here estimated 190,000 people coming through on sunday. that's still about a third of the travelers they saw at this time last year. i talked to someone traveling for the very first time since the pandemic began. >> i was a little nervous. it was my first time going out of the state, but charleston was really really empty this morning, the airport, and atlanta is always busy. it was very different for us to just have this, we're very crowded but the airport itself, everything is really nice and safe, and everybody is keeping their distance. i felt like it's safe. >> reporter: people did describe how tough it was to make the decision with their family on whether to travel for the holiday. those who did travel tell me

they plan on getting tested after they get home. in one case, someone said they would self-quarantine for 14 days. the tsa said they screened a million passengers on three separate days starting from the friday before the holiday. that's a sharp increase in passenger traffic because that record was only hit one other time since the pandemic began. back to you. >> thanks for that report. and los angeles is imposing new restrictions this week as coronavirus cases surge across california. the state reported more than 15,000 new cases and 32 deaths sunday. and they're seeing record numbers of hospitalizations. paul vercammen looks at how officials are trying to fight back against the pandemic. >> reporter: the numbers just alarming in california, now almost 7,500 people hospitalized here. the los angeles county numbers are terrible. 5,000 new cases while the deaths are lagging behind.

that's a number that often goes behind those total cases. we now see there's 2,000 hospitalizations in los angeles county, alone. speaking of los angeles county, it is on the precipice of serious restrictions. you can only congregate with people in your household. they are forbidding people from gathering outside and indoors. this is going to last for three weeks. if you can look behind me, i'm in pasadena, california, an island in los angeles county. its own city with its own health department. they are allowing for dining outside but only with very strict guidelines with the restaurants, the servers must wear a mask and a face shield. they have been actively enforcing this. customers may must stay 6 feet away from each other, not just the tables. they have close restaurants.

a few have opened some. the health director here says what concerns her, as we go into the worst part of the winter, the pandemic, people are getting the sort of covid-19 fatigue. >> we know that the pandemic has dragged on for months. it's the holidays, people are feeling the desire to get together with friends and family, and here we are in the middle of a surge with covid cases climbing and hospit hospitalizations climbing. we're in an alarming situation. we're asking people to take steps they may not be inclined to do. >> excruciating choices for the health director. dr. go had to cancel the rose parade which annually draws somewhere between a million and a million and a half people to pennsylvania. that would have been the ultimate super spreader event. tough times until the greater los angeles area.

reporting from pasadena, i'm paul vercammen, back to you. dr. his or hjorge rodrigueze now. thank you for all you do. >> my pleasure. >> two effective covid-19 vaccines awaiting approval, poised to offer relief amidst the pandemic. the cdc will hold an emergency meeting to vote on who should get the vaccine first, so who do you think should be lined up initially to take these vaccines w once they're approved? >> it's almost like being in an airplane, if you're the adult, you need to put the mask on first. we need to provide the vaccine for people on the front lines. physicians and emergency rooms, nurses, radiology technicians. people in grocery stores that we don't realize really are first line people, you know, in this countr country, policemen, firemen. i think they need to get it

along first, along with those at higher risk. people that have secondary medical conditions that put them at risk. once we inoculate, vaccination, those people, then i think we can go into the general population, but we need to prevent those people from getting sick first. >> right, absolutely understand that, and doctor when this vaccine is available to the general public, and of course we don't really have a firm time line on that, how do you make sure the second dose is available and ready to go when people turn up three weeks or four weeks after the first dose and how do you convince people they can trust these vaccines? because the polls show that's a little bit of a rocky area. >> it is. let me answer the first part of the question. i'm assuming that when they give someone a vaccine, they have already safeguarded and allotted their second dose.

i don't think they would give anybody a first dose, i would hope not, without assuring they're going to have the second dose ready. others it's for naught. it won't do any good. i'm trusting that the first dose will come with a reserved second dose, and how do you get people to trust vaccines? you know, that's a good one, and all we can do is continue to tell the truth here. when you hear how many people are dying per day in this country, how many millions of people have been affected throughout the world. hopefully that will be enough of an impetus for people to take it. what i want people to know is there's very little chance, very little chance for us to go back to a normal way of living without a vaccination. and not just a vaccine, because a vaccine is no good, unless it becomes a vaccination. >> yeah, absolutely, and of course the efficacy of these two covid-19 vaccines, so much higher than the flu shot, which

has only been able to get, what, about 45% of american adults to take it. hopefully that will change. on average, one american life is lost every minute to covid-19. but we just saw millions of americans travel for thanksgiving, and now christmas is just around the corner. how concerned are you about the consequences of these super spreader holidays, and the behavior of some people during this risky time? >> i'm very concerned. i go, i oscillate between just being mad and really bitter about it, and being terribly worried. i don't know why people just don't understand the facts which are without doubt, if you go to the health.org web site, covid19health.org. it will show you all the charts

that have been right on the money. if we don't, right now, today, everybody start wearing masks, there will be approximately 3 to 4,000 people dying in this country every day, double what is occurring today, which is double what was occurring a month ago, which was double what was occurring the month before that, and it is just increasing. so, you know, we can't grab everybody and shake them to realize this, and appealing to people's humanity doesn't seem to be working either. i'm at a loss. i just hope that people realize this is not a joke. this is not a drill, and it just keeps getting worse. >> i'm at an absolute loss as well. just can't get my head around it. dr. jorge rodriguez, thank you so much, and again for everything you do. the u.s. president-elect could soon be wearing a walking boot after suffering hairline fractures to his foot while

playing with his dog. we will have the details ahead. t fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference.

. u.s. president-elect joe biden will receive his first presidential briefing later

today as his cabinet and inner circle come further into focus. his economic team is set to be the latest announcement in the hours ahead. this will come one day after he unveiled an all female senior white house communications team. that includes jan saki, the form former obama white house director is set to serve as secretary in the white house administration. the president visited a doctor who said the president-elect has hairline stra infrastructures after a slip. >> reporter: president-elect joe biden paying a visit to the doctor's office on sunday. the transition office announcing on sunday that on saturday he had an incident where he was playing with his dog major, slipped and twisted his ankle, so he visited an orthopedist, and the doctors readout after

that visit said that the x-rays showed he did have a sprain in his right foot. the biden transition team making a slew of announcements on sunday as well, including some key women who will be serving in his white house communications team. some names worth mentioning include kate bedingfield who is being named the white house communications director, jen saki, who will be standing behind the podium as press secretary. we have simone sanders who will be the chief spokesperson for vice president-elect kamala harris, and karine jean-pierre named the approximately deputy press secretary. looking ahead to what else we expect on monday, the biden transition team is expected to formally announce key members of biden's economic team, including janet yellen, expected to be named his treasury secretary. she would be the first woman to serve in that hole if she is confirmed, two other names worth

mentioning, neera tanden, the head of the center for american progress is going to be named the head of the office of management and budget, and we also have cecilia rouse, named head of council of economic advisers. it's worth noting that this is a group of women who will have their work cut out for them because they will be spearheading the economic recovery effort in the middle of the covid-19 pandemic. mj lee, cnn, wilmington, delaware. and while president-elect biden is pushing forward with his transition, it seems president trump is still fixated on the outcome of the electionment election. on sunday he gave his first one on one interview since losing his bid for a second term. and mr. trump received virtually no push back from the fox tv host as he repeated his false claims of voter fraud. >> this is total fraud and how the fbi and department of justice, i don't know, maybe

they're involved. but how people are allowed to get away from this stuff, with this stuff, is unbelievable. this election was rigged. this is the essence of our country. this is the whole ball game, and they cheated. joe biden did not get 80 million votes. >> he did get those votes. cnn's jeremy diamond has more details now on that interview from the white house. >> reporter: it was a stunning 45 minutes of lies, delusion, and disbelief from the president of the united states on sunday as he phoned in to a fox news program for something that didn't resemble an interview but more of a conversation with the host of the show even encouraging the president as he made false claims and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. the president continuing to make baseless claims even in the face of mounting evidence. 30 plus lawsuits brought forward by the campaign have been

dismissed or withdrawn from legal teams in state and federal courts in key battleground states across the country. one of the latest blows coming in a series of federal cases in the state of pennsylvania with one particularly strong rebuke from a trump appointed judge, calling the election unfair does not make it so. charges require specific allegations and proof. we have near here. the campaigns claims have no merit. that goes to push back against all of the claims of thrown out ballots that the president was making, election observers not being allowed in the room. all of that debunked by the legal cases. the president continued to share this conspiracy theory about voting systems deleting or switching votes that were intended for him to president-elect joe biden. that was something that the chairwoman of the republican party wasn't willing to go that far this weekend when she

campaigned in georgia. >> switching the votes and we go there in crazy numbers, and they should have won but then there's still -- >> we didn't see that in the audit. that evidence, i haven't seen. we'll wait and see on that. >> the president's efforts to call this election rigged running into roadblocks as it relates to recounts, like the audit in the state of georgia that confirmed results for the victory of joe biden or recounts in counties in wisconsin, paid for by donald trump's campaign, that sent more votes, a minimal number to joe biden, confirming the results of joe biden's victory there. the president did pmake clear this, he said he would love the white house if the electoral college confirms joe biden's victory in this 2020 election, he said he's not going to abandon this notion that the election was rigged. as false and basely as it may be, the president saying six months from now, he will still

maintain that this election was stolen from him. jeremy diamond, cnn, the white house. jessica levinson joins me now, a professor at loyola university, and the host of the podcast. in his first tv interview, donald trump went on a rant on sunday morning on fox news, unchallenged by the interviewer. he claimed the election was rigged, going so far as to accuse his own justice department and the fbi of being involved. he has no evidence to prove any of this, and yet so many republicans believe him. how dangerous are all of these baseless claims, and what impact could they potentially have on this democracy, and joe biden's future leadership? >> yeah, so i mean, i think the short answer is not that dangerous right now in the sense

that our guard rails are holding in america, so judiciary has held. donald trump has won one fairly insignificant case. he's lost 39 cases, varying in degrees from not that big to really big. the judiciary has stood as a guard trail. they have rejected president trump's baseless claims. in terms of how much damage will this do, we have to see if trump is an aberration or a pattern. we have to see what happens to the trump voters, how many will stay with him no matter what, and we have to see what president trump does when he's former president trump, how much he tries to keep the spotlight. >> we'll cokeep an i yooeye on . a trump appointed judge saying in his response to trump's pennsylvania lawsuit calling an election unfair does not make it so. charges require specific allegations and then proof, and he added that we have neither

here. the campaign's claims have no merit. so jessica, trump knows the courts reject his false claims outright, and he's now using fox news to spread his conspiracy theories. why would the republican party go along with this, especially given it could backfire in the two runoff elections in georgia on january 5th. and it looks like that is happening right now. >> absolutely, and i think that's why we see this division in georgia with the secretary of state and the governor saying essentially don't worry that much about the election. actually, it was okay, and look at what president trump's own administration said. this was the safest election that we have ever held, and we see this division between republicans in georgia who have to convince voters that they should come back and vote in the runoff and trust the system, and then the republicans who will stay with president trump no matter what, and i think that second group is dwindling, and

in part because of what you said in the question which is a trump appointed judge had a tour deforce opinion where he said in no uncertain teams, this is baseless. he wrote an opinion where there's nothing to be appealed to the supreme court. there is no legal issue. >> it speaks volumes, doesn't it. and meantime, president-elect joe biden made and announced an all female senior white house communications team, and is set to announce his top economic team in the hours ahead. how significant is that in terms of this polar opposite administration in waiting? >> well, i think that's exactly what it is. so i think that president-elect biden is really going to try and swing the pendulum back and say, i'm going to right the shipment we're going back to a status quo but then also push it a little farther into a place where he wants it to be, where we look at senior communications staff and it's not news that they're all

women, where we look at the vice president of the united states, and it's normal that there's a woman and a woman of color who's in a position of power. it's normal that you walk into any room where the levers of power of government are being pulled, and usual see women there. i think that that will continue to be part of what he's doing, but notice he's picking people based on expertise and experience. he did this with his covid relief team, with his communications team and national security team. this is a list with resumes longer than you have paper to print on. >> jessica levinson, thank you so much for your analysis, we appreciate it. >> thank you. iran has been holding a funeral for a top nuclear scientist. how iran is likely to respond to his killing. that's ahead. for the whole family. trusted soothing vapors, from vicks

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welcome back, everyone. well, south australia is set to open its border with the neighboring state of victoria in the coming hours. victoria has now gone 30 days with no new coronavirus cases and reopened its border with new south wailes last week. the easing of restrictions is a huge relief for many people. his state will no longer travellers from victoria to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival. japan is reporting a sharp increase of new coronavirus cases. the health ministry recorded more than 2,000 on sunday. a day earlier, japan reported more than 2,600 new cases. that's its highest single day

increase since the pandemic began. cnn's paula hancocks, joins with more on the spike. what is behind the spike and cases in japan, and how is the government responding to this? >> reporter: there's a number of factors behind this, and it's a similar situation in south korea, hong kong, places that did deal with the pandemic fairly well in the early months. with japan, these numbers are rising significantly. officials are concerned they have said at this point that in certain cities they want certain restaurants, they want karaoke venues, things like that, to close early. they are trying to shut cities town earlier. there are less people out and about, and they can try and curtail these numbers which are rising. they have also said they have a record number of patients with severe symptoms in intensive care at this point. a record number as in it hasn't been this high since the

pandemic began, so that's certainly a concern for them. there are a number of factors, though, the fact that it is winter. much of the northern hemisphere is seeing these numbers rise as more people are heading indoors. it's a similar situation in south korea. they have lifted, sorry, they have raised the social distancing rules to try and cut back on the number of cases. we had over 500 for three consecutive days just recently here in south korea. not very high when you compare it to other countries around the world, but it is high for south korea, and a similar situation in hong kong. they had 115 cases, and that's the highest for a few months in the territory. they have decided they're going to shut schools in person from wednesday onward. december 2nd, there will just be online schooling from the christmas holiday, after the end of december again, trying to curtail the increase that we're

seeing in certain parts of asia. rosemary. >> it's a delicate operation, working on how to respond to this in different parts of the world, of course. paula hancocks, with the latest, appreciate it. funeral services have been held for a chief nuclear scientist killed in a brazen assassination, mohsen fakhrizadeh was killed just outside of teheran on friday. iranian media say he was shot be a remote controlled machine gun. for more on this, let's turn to cnn fred pleitgen from berlin. he has reported recently from iran in recent years. ma what more are you learning about the actual assassination, and how and when iran might respond to this assassination? >> reporter: and certainly how iran will respond to this is quite a big debate inside the country and inside the political and military circles of the

country as well. you have the iranian hard liners, first and foremost in the orbit of iran's supreme leader, ayatollah, one of the things we have been hearing from iranian officials like for instance. foreign minister over the past couple of days is they say there was an involvement by israel in all of this. of course they always believe in cahoots with the united states, and they are essentially behind all of this. some in the hard line circles are saying there needs to be a swift response. otherwise iran could see similar assassinations or attacks on its fracture and also possibly on its military installations as well. there are those saying iran needs to be careful about what they do next. they believe in such things time is on their side. they are in the region, obviously going to stay in the region, and they're in no rush.

they believe that for instance israel and the united states are trying to rush and trying to bait them into some sort of response in the final days of the trump administration, so there are some, especially among the moderates, you need to think about this, take this slow, and see what happens next. of course one of the things that many in iran believe, certainly the moderate circles, they think things are going to get more positive for them, easier for them, with an incoming biden administration. one of the things that joe biden has talked about is possibly the u.s. becoming part of the nuclear agreement again that the trump administration pulled out of. certainly an important time in that region, and the iranians, you can tell, very much aware of the fact that the way they respond to this could very much play a large role in shaping things in the not too distant future. >> a lot to consider before they take the next step. fred pleitgen joining us there. many thanks. european human rights ambassadors say they are

concerned about a group of female activists detained in saudi arabia, and they are calling on the kingdom to release them. one of the women who has already spent more than two years in jail is now going to be tried by a terrorism court. her apparent crime, demanding the right to drive. nic robertson has the story. >> reporter: saudi arabia's most well-known female prisoner, loujain has gone from jailed rights activist to alleged national security threat. her sister is horrified. she alleges loujain has been tortured in prison. >> my parents saw that she was very weak, that her body was shaking and that her voice as well. but even with that, she was still very focused and wanted to read her whole defense. her and other activists were being electrocuted, beaten,

deprived of sleep, force fed. >> reporter: saudi authorities have repeatedly denied allegations of torture and sexual abuse in their jails. known as mbs gave the go ahead for the long awaited reform, she was arrested. human rights groups called on world leaders to use last week's virtual g20 summit in riyadh to pressure mbs to allow her release. instead, days after the event wrapped, hathloul appeared before a judge only to learn her case was being referred to a notorious terror court. >> i believe the charges have to do with receiving money from hostile govr hostile governments in order to pass it on to hostile groups in saudi arabia. >> reporter: so far the saudi

government has passed on evidence, and saudi courts where evidence would be presented are notoriously difficult to access. international pressure for her release isn't working, unclear if president-elect joe biden who has promised to take a tough line on saudi can make a difference. >> we're not subject to pressure. these individuals were arrested under our laws and our courts have jurisdiction, they decide. we don't allow people to put pressure on us in order to do things that are against our interests. >> unclear too when her next court appearance will be, although the venue is set, saudi arabia's specialized criminal court, which according to human rights group amnesty international is intrinsically unfair. nic robertson, cnn, london. >> more than 100 people are dead after a gruesome attack on nigerian villagers, just ahead,

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we are tracking news of a horrific attack in northeastern nigeria, and a warning, some of what you're about to see is disturbing. a un official says at least 110 civilian were killed on saturday when a farming community was attacked near borneo state. boko haram militants are suspected in this attack. for more, let's bring in cnn senior international correspondent arwa damon, she joins us live from istanbul. the details so disturbing. what more are you learning about this brutal attack. >> they really are, rosemary,

and it underscores just how vulnerable the communities are at this stage according to an eyewitness, the attackers arrived on motorcycles, some people were killed on the spot. others were taken away and beheaded. and dozens more remain missing. now these are very vulnerable communities, economically vulnerable, but also security wise vulnerable because despite the fact that the nigerian government has been at war with boko haram and other offshoot terrorist organizations for years now, they have yet to really be able to bring the security situation under control, especially when it comes to communities that live outside of the major cities. the nigerian government had change its strategy to a certain degree, trying to build these super camps where they

consolidated their military fire power, but what that did was leave these types of farming communities, such as the ones that were subjected to this absolutely chilling attack, extraordinary vulnerable. they rely mostly on these vigilante groups that have arisen but the groups don't have the military experience or weapons needed to take on an entity such as boko haram, which is the main suspect as being behind these attacks, and so what these farming and other remote communities end up being, rosemary, to try to protect themselves is they cut deals with boko haram. they agreed to provide them food and other provisions that they may be needing in return for not being subjected to this kind of violence. it seems at this stage, at least, as if it was one of these deals gone sour.

it was a moment of reckoning for the nigerian government when it comes to security in this part of the country. also broadly speak, now it has to deal with discontent on a lot of levels, not just in borno province when it comes to the population there. other areas like bouja where there has been ongoing protest and unrest against the government and other parts as well. >> it is a horrifying story. ar arwa damon on top of those details. cuba wants help with a surge in drug trafficking and hope the new biden administration will mean an increase in cooperation. that story after this break. ♪ since pioneering the suv in 1935,

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>> reporter: trespassing into cuban waters, these drug smugglers attempt to outrun a cuban government patrol boat. after the cuban crew threatens to open fire, the smugglers throw their contraband into the ocean. just in october, cuban border guard officials say they c confiscated enough drugs to fill two whole trucks. smugglers trying to sneak boat loads of marijuana and cocaine past cuban controls and into the united states have become an increasingly common occurrence over the past year. cuban border guard officers tell us. in this last period, there has been an increase, he tells me. we have detected 40 vessels that were suspicious or smuggling drugs as well as the drugs that have been recovered. under close guard by special forces troops, cuban officials unseal the secure facility where they have stored the seized

drugs. nearly three tons worth, they tell us. >> we're going to walk in right now, and you see from florior t ceiling, bags and bags of marijuana that's been captured, either taken off boats that were coming through cuban waters, drug smuggling rounds or found smugglers who would ditch the drugs in the ocean and found later or turned in. what i can tell you is the smell of the drugs in this room is completely overwhelming. it's just overpowering. much if not all of the drugs that cuban officials say they recovered were headed to the united states. 90 miles off cuba's shores. >> the capable forces that we have in the law enforcement community is not only a guarantee for the national security of cuba but it's also beneficial for the national security of the united states. >> reporter: while the u.s. criticizes cuba on human rights and lack of multiparty

elections, the state department acknowledged in their 2020 report a narcotics that cuba is not a major consumer, producer or transit point of illicit drugs. this video shows u.s. coast guard officials turning over drugs to the cuban border patrol that they recovered at sea to help with the prosecution of the smugglers who were arrested by the cubans. but after the trump administration rolled back improved relations with havana, cuban officials say regular meetings with u.s. law enforcement agencies were cancelled. the trump administration did not respond to our requests for comment. despite this policy, she tells me, cuba is willing to combat international drug trafficking. we have stopped tons of drugs from reaching the u.s. to make their point, cuban officials give us rare access to film as they load the drugs. then transport them under heavy

guard to haul them by crane to this industrial furnace where packet by packet, they are incinerated. smoke signals the cuban government is sending to the biden administration that they are seeking a new u.s./cuban relation. patrick altman, cnn. november is coming to a close with record numbers for wall street. the results are a stark contrast of what president donald trump predicted before the election. >> this election is a choice between a biden depression or a trump super boom. >> we're not going to have time to talk about it. >> if he's elected, the stock market will crash. your stocks, your 401(k)s and pensions will be demolished. you'll go into a depression, the likes of which you haven't seen

since 1929. that's what's going to happen. >> so far the markets have responded positively to a joe biden presidency, and we will be waiting to see how investors react later today when biden formally names key members of his economic team. cnn's john defterios joins me to talk more about this. good to see you. so donald trump got it wrong when he predicted markets would tank if joe biden won. the exact opposite has happened. how might markets respond once biden formally announces his economic team a few hours from now. >> i think that's actually built into the price surge we have seen in november already, rosemary. it's good to get the official stamp of approval by joe biden publicly. donald trump tried to scare u.s. investors with the threat on their retirement plans but the choices made by joe biden so far have been extremely well received, particularly this with biden picking u.s. treasury

secretary nominee janet yellen who was at the federal reserve, as a kind of widely held view that she can work well with powell, the current chairman. she was after all the chairman before in, and had experience at the white house for some time. we have selling pressure in the u.s. futures, not too surprisingly because of the pace of the run up we have seen during this month. at the same time, i think business community and international investment community feels comfortable with the fact that we have had a judiciary system stand up to donald trump and resist the temptation, talking of voter fraud and also the business community in the u.s. from wall street to silicon valley, also saying we need to protect the electoral system, and this was a vote of confidence, and why if we look at the global numbers it's not just the u.s. rallying, 11% on the month. the msci global indetection, and the european market playing catch up with activity across the atlantic. we see china's factory data

going up. they have vaccine in distribution and unemployment numbers should inch down to 6.8%, we still rose despite the enthusiasm on wall street, 13 million americans asking for benefits because they don't have a job. this is a real challenge for janet yellen to avoid the second dip of a threat of a recession in 2021 before we get the pervasive vaccine distribution in the united states. >> very important point. wall street is doing well. main street is not. we'll have to see what is done for those people really suffering. john defterios, bringing us that. many thanks, and thank you for your company. i'm rosemary church. "early start" is up next. you're watching cnn. have yourselves a great day. you'd never wash your dishes in this.

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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 christine is back. >> i'm back after thanksgiving week. what a restful week, but a lot of news today. nice to see you, laura. i'm christine romans. until the u.s., more people than ever before are sick enough with coronavirus to be in the hospital. more than 93,000 hospitalizations as of sunday, and america's top health officials fear the worst is yet to come. >> i want to be straight with the american people. it's going to get worse over