caught it warning they need to continue to be careful. >> melissa bell. thank you for that important report. thank you for joining us. brianna keilar picks up coverage right now. hello, i am brianna keilar. welcome to viewers here in the united states and around the world. america's worst case scenarios are coming true as the pandemic is overtaking the country like never before. a new end of week tally finds there were 1.5 million new cases in the last seven days. that means one out of every 216 americans reported getting infected just in the past week. more than 233,000 new cases were reported thursday alone. more than 3200 deaths. this week we had a 9/11 magnitude of loss of life. the president hasn't said a consoling word nor offered a moment of silence.

it has been 332 days since the first u.s. case of covid was reported, there's still no coordinated national plan. in fact, today one of the retweets questioned whether masks even work. another day, another record shattered. southern california has zero icu capacity now. zero. but there's some light on the horizon. ed newly approved vaccine being delivered to facilities. some of the most high profile vaccinations took place. the vice president, sanjay gupta, jerome adams, all received the pfizer shot, house speaker nancy pelosi, you'll hear more about that shortly. medical professionals and leaders trying to build confidence in a vaccine met with skepticism by many americans. especially black americans who know the history of racism in

medical research. >> shameful cuss keying ee experiments occurred within many of our life times. to promote confidence in vaccines, we must start by acknowledging the history of mistreatment and exploitation of minorities by the medical community and the government. but then we need to explain and demonstrate all that's been done to correct and address the wrongs. i know the importance of representation. that's why i could not be more pleased or feel more called to receive the vaccine. so many people of color had a hand in developing and testing and has the potential to correct at least some of the health disparities the pandemic has unveiled. >> in california, it has gone beyond a surge. an l.a. county official says they're under siege. much of the state has no icu beds left, and reported the highest number of coronavirus deaths in a single day. in the past week, california has seen a jaw dropping 270,000 new cases.

cnn correspondent dan simon is in san francisco. what are local and state officials doing to stop what appears to be an out of control spread? >> brianna, first of all, no question, california is in the midst of unprecedented surge. you have 52,000 cases yesterday. more than 100,000 cases in the past 48 hours. putting enormous strain on the health care system, statewide icu capacity is at an alarming 3%. southern california, it is zero percent. the state activated alternative health care sites, there are 11 of them. five of them currently have patients. in terms of what's happening in san francisco, remember, this was the first city in the country to issue a stay at home order. now it is taking additional aggressive action. saying if you are coming to the city and live outside the bay area, you need to quarantine for ten days. there are some exceptions, if

you're a health care worker, for instance, it goes to show you it is another example that the crisis is not slowing down. and this pandemic continues to impact our elected leaders in various ways. eric garcetti announced his nine-year-old daughter has tested positive for the virus, now he is in quarantine. brianna? >> we certainly wish the best for her. dan simon, thank you so much. tennessee is another state kus currently in crisis, seeing an outbreak among the worst in the nation. amid explosion of cases, the governor urges residents to hunker down awaiting the vaccine. natasha chen joins us with the latest. >> reporter: brianna, tennessee broke its record wednesday for daily case count, more than 11,000 cases that day alone. it is the only state in the nation with more than 50% increase in cases last week compared to the week before. a lot of issues in the eastern part of the state. "new york times" made a couple

of lists showing where it is worst in the country now. unfortunately, tennessee made the lists a number of times, and that includes the city next to where we are now, seeing one of the fastest rises in case numbers adjusted for population. brianna? >> all right, natasha, thank you so much. let's talk with a medical expert. want to speak with public health specialist. i think, dr. matthew, people are wondering when they look at something like southern california where they have zero capacity in the icu, what does that mean for patients who need to go to the hospital and may need to be in the icu? >> right. so that basically means there's no room in the inn, brianna, and that's unfortunate. you know, i looked back to see how far we have come when it comes to treating patients with covid and we have made a lot of advances. we know now patients need to be laying on the stomach, not on their backs. we have decks a meth zone, we

have have a lot of treatments. but treatments will do nobody any good if you don't have rooms in the icu. earlier, a month or two ago when cases weren't as bad, you can convert a regular room to an icu. but what about the staff, the icu nurses, respiratory therapists working overtime. and what worries me, brianna, a lot of medical providers are walking away from the field of medicine. i fought my whole life to become a doctor, the last thing i want to think is i am so tired, mentally dran mentally drained, that the newer generation will not think about being a health care provider. unfortunately rationing of care becomes a big issue. what about people that need regular care? my sister's mother-in-law who is 90 years old went into the hospital last night, brianna, in the er sef ven hours. with covid, you have to be alone. imagine how lonely she felt. lots of things worry me about

cases that are rising. >> there's a model that the white house often cites, imhe. it is predicting 562,000 deaths by april 1st. put that in context for us. >> right. so that is over half a million deaths. when this pandemic is going to be over, what's really sad for me to say as a physician on air is that we're going to find out that a good 80 to 90% of deaths are preventable. i spoke to a patient the other day that said dr. matthew, are these patients dying because they have diabetes and high blood pressure? my response to her was no. having diabetes and high blood pressure is not a death sentence, but if you get covid and you're over 65, your chances of survival is slim. unfortunately all of the patients in the icu right now that are struggling to breathe are not going to be able to get

the vaccine. the cavalry arrived, moderna joins the mix today. but if we're not healthy and alive to get the vaccine, it is not going to do us any good. >> there's a narrative of the vulnerability of older americans. i think that's something that's certainly stuck from the beginning in the minds of americans. but there's new research suggesting that deaths, coronavirus deaths among people age 25 to 44 may have been missed early on in the pandemic. this is a study published in the journal of the american medical association and said researchers found there were nearly 12,000 more deaths in this age group than expected, so some of them they could attribute to covid, not all of them. how likely is it that the other deaths were from coronavirus? >> you know, i think ultimately we are probably underreporting. what we need to realize, that study by jama, these are younger patients, 25 to 44, with 12,000

excess deaths. we are talking about a lot of young people that are not only going to the hospital but are being admitted into the icu. if you're sick enough to go to the hospital, there's a 21% chance, brianna, you'll be in the icu and you'll be intubated, have a tube down your throat. i think the whole messaging to the community that covid is dangerous if you're over 65, if you're young, it is not a big problem, we need to change that messaging. let's not forget what happened with the epidemic of hiv early on, or the opioid crisis in young people. we never got the message to them early. i think it is important to also realize that african americans and latinos form a good number of excess deaths. if you have high blood pressure, you're obese and diabetic, your risk from dying for covid goes up significantly. one last thing, brianna, i almost feel like the young people need to be pumped up the

list when it comes to vaccines, they've given up on the pandemic, transmitting the virus, and a good number of young people are asymptomatic. >> good point. certainly something to discuss. dr. matthew, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. members of congress are now among the first group of americans to get the new covid vaccine. moments ago, house speaker nancy pelosi was vaccinated by the capitol's attending physician. for more on this development, bring in manu raju, covering this from capitol hill. this all happened pretty fast. pelosi said she expected to get the shot the next few days. are we going to see more members of congress following her lead? >> reporter: it seems that way. it is definitely moving fast, it was not expected necessarily to go to all members of congress but all 535 members of congress and the house and senate are eligible to get the vaccine. some members of rank and file also are indicating they plan to get their own vaccination soon, including congressman don buyer,

whose office said he plans to do so this afternoon. on the screen, you see pictures of the shot being administered during the capitol physician's office, dr. brian monohan. he informed congress under government continuity guidelines they're all eligible to receive the vaccine. pelosi in the aftermath of receiving the vaccine said in a statement today with confidence and science and direction of the office of the attending physician i received the covid-19 vaccine. mitch mcconnell, senate majority leader, indicated he plans to get vaccinated in the coming days. we'll see other members of leadership as well. this is also an institution which had not even had a full on testing regime for some time. wasn't until last few weeks, brianna, that there has been testing regime on capitol hill. now they're moving forward to getting the vaccine. a lot of members travel back to home districts and states, come back to the capitol. important to not spread the

disease because already 50 members of the house and senate have contracted it in the last several months, brianna. >> manu, thank you so much for that. manu raju on capitol hill. the pentagon today is denying it cancelled meetings with joe biden's transition team. we are told they may not resume for awhile. plus, it comes as the president remains silent on the suspected russian hack, the one being called so massive it is not yet known what secrets the russians have. and one year ago, the house impeached president trump. how would american lives be different now if the senate convicted him? this is cnn special live coverage. ed by making the cloud easier to manage. but we didn't stop there. we made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. no matter what it does, or how it changes. and we kept going. so you only pay for what you use. because at dell technologies, we stop...at nothing. ♪

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just in. president-elect joe biden and jill biden will receive the first dose of the vaccine monday. this will happen in delaware. we are told the vice president-elect will receive hers the following week. dr. fauci said the bidens should get it as soon as possible. we are learning more about the scale and scope of a massive cyber attack on government agencies and private entities in the u.s. department of homeland security cyber arm says suspected russian hackers used a variety of unidentified tactics, not just a single compromised software program. in a statement, the cyber security and infrastructure security agency says, this is a quote, cisa determined this threat poses a grave risk to the federal government and state, local, tribal, territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations. cisa expects that removing this threat active from compromised environments will be highly

complex and challenging for organizations. joining us for important perspective, former defense secretary and former cia director leon panetta. secretary, first, when you try to put this in context, it is sometimes difficult compared to say a physical attack that americans are able to see. this is something that's a little abstract. they can't necessarily see the threat. put this into perspective for us. >> i've always said that cyber is the battlefield of the future and the nightmare we've always worried about is broad cyber attack that goes after our most important agencies and companies, and provides the basis for almost paralyzing our country as a consequence. what we're seeing now is without question the gravest cyber attack against the united states

that we've seen. the danger isn't just spooig, it can can alter the truth and undermine trust in data. it is a serious, dangerous attack by the russians. >> so russia is suspected now to be behind this attack. it hasn't been confirmed. that appears to be the assessment now. knowing that, what can the u.s. do in response. >> there are a number of steps to be taken. obviously since this impacted our nuclear labs, treasury, commerce, it is important to put these agencies, critical agencies on alert because once these viruses have been planted, the russians, assuming it is the

russians and i believe it is, can ultimately continue to be able to take over systems and as i said destroy information, put them on alert, develop cyber hunters that can go out and determine where these cyber attacks have occurred, where they've taken place so we can identify it. obviously confirm that it is the russians. and then if that is the case, i think make clear to the russians that this is not only unacceptable but that the united states will take action to make sure the russians pay a price. we should have done this a long time ago, particularly when they were attacking our election systems using cyber. but they've never gotten that message from the united states. so they're continuing to obviously take advantage of our systems without any kind of

price being paid. that's wrong. >> we have found out that the cyber campaign began quite awhile ago, as early as march. several sources have said the u.s. government was unaware of the breach until the end of last week. how is that possible? >> brianna, cyber capabilities and technology have for a long time continued to develop new approaches and one of the approaches we've always worried about is the approach of being able to deploy a virus into a system and not activate it immediately, activate it in another three, four, five, six months. and i think what has happened here is that these viruses have been deployed into the sensitive agencies and it now gives, assuming it is the russians, gives them the capability to be

able to destroy computers, to alter information, and to really undermine trust in our data system. this is a very serious attack by the russians. >> and yet president trump hasn't said anything about it. what does that signify to the russians suspected to be behind this? >> well, it's always been astounding to me the president of the united states has never made a clear statement to putin and to the russians that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the united states. and the president right now continues to remain silent. in the face of a clear cyber attack against the united states. it is very important. i mean, the russians are now getting a message they can continue to do this anytime they

want. they need to get the opposite message which is that this will not be tolerated and that we will strike back and make them pay a price for what they're doing. >> secretary panetta, we are always grateful to have you on. thank you. >> thanks, brianna. the clock ticking as tonight's government shutdown deadline approaches and congress is still without a covid stimulus bill. plus, one senator says he has plans if the vote doesn't happen tonight. hear what they are. and one year ago, the house impeached president trump. how would american lives be different if the senate had convicted him. this is cnn special live coverage. neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference. you buy from us, at cayou get the freedomat car of the seven-day return policy. this isn't some dealership test drive around the block.

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it probably seems like a lifetime ago, but it was one year ago today the house of representatives voted on and approved two articles of impeachment against president donald trump for abuse of power, obstruction of congress. made him the third president in u.s. history to be impeached by congress. in early february, following a three week long trial in the senate, a divided senate voted

52-48 to acquit the president. we have cnn presidential historian douglas brinkley with us to talk about this. you know, i know this is sort of looking back on what would have been, what could have been, but we saw in that initial phone call that prompted impeachment, we saw the president's misuse of office. it was an abuse of power. the senate certainly could not have foreseen what has been his neglect to handle the pandemic, and the ensuing economic crisis, but what do you think the government response would have looked like if mike pence had been in charge instead of donald trump? >> well, it would have been a lot different, brianna. there's no evidence that pence is involved with russia. you had a very sobering interview with secretary panetta. this incredible scenario of donald trump's refusal to ever criticize, say anything wrong about putin and the russian government and willing to

encourage interference on our elections, donald trump. if he had been impeached and the senate got rid of him, it would have been a large message to foreign countries, don't mess with the united states. your tool in this case donald trump is gone, we have a new government. and michael pence coming from indiana, the big state of the pharmaceuticals would have been trying to unify the country on the covid. if we're going to have a war on it, let's do it united in a way that franklin roosevelt would or john kennedy, instead we got donald trump's mixed messaging about the response to the coronavirus on a daily basis to the point we all became dizzy in 2020. >> i mean, you wonder if mike pence or really any other more conventional politician might have looked at something like this crisis, as so many politicians have done, and seen where the good of the country

intersects with what is good politically, which is to unite and to try to create a united front that would have benefitted a president running for re-election. >> early on in 2020 donald trump when covid hit acted like herbert hoover, spent two months doing nothing. we could have saved tens of thousands of lives if president trump acted sooner. here we are at the end of the year, 2020, he is acting like herbert hoover do nothing now when we are under cyber attack from russia and seems to be unconcerned about it. meanwhile just today, trump is saying he is not sure masks work. we watched donald trump hold a rally in tulsa, oklahoma over the summer where herman cain died. i doubt mike pence would have had a maskless rally in such a reckless fashion. so the tone and tenor of the

year would have been better. who knows, pence may have been able to unify the country and gotten reelected. could have a president pence, alast you have donald trump, one term president with impeachment on him, who lost the country's votes but also has become a laughing stock around the world and we're being toyed with now by russia because they know trump won't respond. >> doug, thank you so much for your perspective. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. this week saw several celebrities, including george clooney, tom cruise, speaking about the coronavirus and mask deniers. i speak with richard schiff who is recovering after his battle with coronavirus. stand by for that.

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the only thing a disaster can't destroy is hope. donate now at redcross.org the impact of tom cruise's outburst about not using covid rules is reverberating in hollywood and beyond. they released audio of tom cruise reportedly threatening to fire crew members who did not comply with guidelines on the set of his new movie. now others are coming to his

defense and speaking out about wearing masks. former new jersey governor and trump ally, chris christie, who recovered from covid admitted it was a mistake not to mask up attending a white house event back in september. >> you know, lying in isolation and icu for seven days, i thought about how wrong i was to remove my mask at the white house. today i think about how wrong it is to let mask wearing divide us, especially as we now know you're twice as likely to get covid-19 if you don't wear a mask. because if you don't do the right thing, we could all end up on the wrong side of history. please wear a mask. >> now, most recently actor george clooney said crews had a right to be upset and was it wrong. he told howard stern this. this thought where everybody is like well, it is my freedom, it is like that's not how this s word works, dumb a word. here is your freedom.

you're free to smoke until your lungs turn black but you can't do it on the bus. you can drink until your liver comes out your a word. there have to be certain rules. my next guest knows the dangers of contracting coronavirus, emmy award winning actor richard schiff of "the good doctor" and the west wing. richard, you and your wife survived the virus, last time we spoke, i wanted to check in with you, you were doing better. i wonder how you are feeling now, things can change, and how your wife sheila kelly who viewers will recognize from "the good doctor" is doing. she was still coughing quite a bit last time we spoke. >> i have a little cough going on now. we are both grateful and lucky to be doing okay. i am getting better progressively every day. i think about 80% now, sheila is struggling a little bit.

but still getting better. excuse me. so we're very lucky and grateful relative to other stories of course that we know about. >> so one of the things we talked about last time was that you actually felt, you went through quite the process. you and your wife stared down the fact you might not make it, you had to have a tough talk. you were thankful for when your symptoms showed up because if they hadn't showed up in the middle of the night, you could have gone onset the next morning. >> that's right. >> we have seen this outburst from tom cruise on the set of the latest mission impossible movie. he got very upset. i'm sure you heard about this. george clooney said it is not his style to take everybody to task that way. said it doesn't necessarily help. but someone like you that knows the risk of going on set and possibly giving it to someone, what do you think about the debate this sparked? was that a just fiified outbursr

too over the top? >> i don't judge people's behavior unless it hurts somebody else. you know, tom cruise is really like a studio head. he's responsible for the entire franchise of "mission impossible." i heard the outbreak, and as he says, "mission impossible" is a test for the rest of hollywood. if they do well, more and more pictures and films will go into production. same is true with "the good doctor." we were the first television show in vancouver to go back to work. everybody was watching us. the negotiations over the protocols was in tenstense. i was part of that. my reaction, first time i worked on "the good doctor" there were some violations, and what i did was i got the producers and the ads together and said hey, this

and this and this and this didn't happen the first day i worked. it's very possible to make this strict and workable but people have to be vocal about it. they have to tell each other, remind each other to put the masks on. keep away from actors who don't have masks when preparing to go on a scene. all these, we were on location. there were a lot of jammed activity in one space which doesn't work per covid protocols. and they have gotten it really well. and so i didn't get sick on set. had i gone to work that day, had the symptoms come later, very likely that someone would have gotten sick. but everyone gets tested two to three times a week. the likelihood is reduced but still possible that someone will get sick. as strict as we need to be is what we have to do. if tom cruise felt it was necessary to yell at people to kind of, probably a performance

of some sort, so everyone heard it, so everyone could be reminded at the same time, if that saves that group from having to shutdown, saves someone getting sick or worse, then so be it. >> richard, you're in vancouver, but you're very much aware of the surge that we are experiencing here in the u.s. certainly los angeles. my goodness right now. and just from your perspective, having contracted coronavirus before the worst of the worst, i wonder how you've kind of reflected on that as you're hearing stories about how icu capacity is at its limit and just knowing what it would have been like for you, someone that went in the hospital, who struggled to breathe, thought they may end up on a vent, what is your perspective on this time? >> i'm shocked at what's happening in los angeles. they were early on favorites if you will because their protocols

were working and we had low numbers and now it's out of control. i can't imagine what i would have gone through had i not been able to get a bed in a hospital. i went to vancouver general in vancouver, i was taken care of. i actually got a private room with a view, no less. now vancouver general, the spike is happening here on a much less scale, lesser scale, but it is still happening, and vancouver general is overwhelmed and are experiencing covid fatigue and they're running out of space so it is happening here as well. imagine me having to go to emergency or anyone and not being able to get treated and not being able to -- it is like if there was a mass accident of some kind and there were no spaces, no way to treat someone

who had trauma and whose life was threatened, well, it's the same thing now. there's no space. it is unfathomable to me. i hear from people, talk to people from los angeles who it is apocalyptic. we have to work harder to stay home and to not continue to spread this horrible thing around as best we can. >> richard, look, we appreciate your perspective. it is so valid on so many fronts, especially this week. please give our best to sheila as she's trying to recover from this. >> i appreciate that, brianna, thank you. >> richard schiff, thank you. a chaotic chain of events at the white house on the coronavirus relief bill. the president talked out of larger stimulus checks for struggling americans. plus, eight nuns dead from covid in a week. i will be talking to a sister

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we still do not know exactly what lawmakers will include in the $900 billion pandemic relief bill or how they will avert the government shutdown that's supposed to happen at mid night. what we know is there's a lot of sticking points here, including how long to extend the eviction moratorium. the gop push for the emergency lending authority and who is eligible for individual stimulus checks. the amount is also a point of

contention, though it looks like lawmakers have compromised on an amount of $600 per person. initially president trump wanted to call for checks up to $2,000 per person, but aides talked him out of it over concerns it would derail relief negotiations. let's talk about this with austan goolsbee, the former chair of economic advisers under president obama, now an economics professor at the university of chicago boothe school of business. did president trump have a point there? >> well, $2,000 is better than $600 for sure. i think the president wants to be there anymore. i think he's not directly involved, and that's part of the problem. now it's mitch mcconnell and nancy pelosi trying to sort it out among themselves, so i'm a little nervous about this.

>> here we are on the praecipe of this, and republicans, as you're aware, are focused on the price tag. they want to keep it under a trillion dollars. knowing what you know from being involved in the response to the 2008 financial crisis, what do you say to that? >> look, i think if they don't pass a bill, we're likely to be looking at another recession. that's certainly a high possibility. it's not just a target number. it's what you use the money for. this is not really stimulus that's trying to jump-start the economy, this is a disaster relief package that's trying to prevent people from getting evicted and having their gus shot o gas shut off. it needs to be a big number. if it isn't, we'll have the debate again soon. >> the latest relief package, no state and local government

eight. what's the impact will be? >> i think it's not good. look, we have to spread this vaccine widely and rapidly. to do that, you need partners at the state level. the state states' are through t roof, because medicaid expenses, one of their biggest expenses are way, way up during this crisis. states will have to fire teachers, police people, first responders, firefighters that certainly doesn't help. i had to get your reaction from this moment this morning. this is senator imhoff. >> i say you better get this last vote done tonight, or you'll have to do it without me, because i will be with kay for our anniversary on saturday, the

61st wedding anniversary. 61 years together is a lot. congratulations to them, but what did you think about that, where he basically set, i'm out of here. >> i'm sorry that our pandemic timetable does not match to his social calendar. i applaud his long marriage. let's do the job. i think the premise behind his statement was, let's do the job and get the job done. so i applaud the literal statement. let's get it done today. >> austan, thank you. >> thank you. the pandemic is the worst right now that it has ever been. states like california are on the brink of sweeping new restrictions, and hospitals reaching capacity. d real snow a from switzerland. (betsy) hmmhm... gonna be tough to top.

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it's the top of the hour, i'm brianna keilar. i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. america's worst-case scenarios are coming true. a new end of week tally fits 1.5 million new cases in the last seven days. that means one out of every 216

americans reported getting infected. we have had a 9/11 magnitude loss of life on three different days this week. the president stilling has not said a consoling word. fortunately science brings us a light at the end of the tunnel, actual shots of the vaccine. we just learned that nancy pelosi has received the shot. mitch mcconnell set he will, too, and urged all men to do the same. in moment we'll show you moments when the vice president, the surgeon general and our own dr. gupta got the vaccine. >> i felt totally comfortable today. so many people have asked me that. that's a fair question. things moved really, really fast here. i think sometimes that caused trepidation, but as dr. rice just said, the criti