♪ a recorded warning, then a massive explosion. investigators in nashville are trying to figure out who blew up a motor home in the city center and why. the united states is responding to a new variant of the coronavirus, but one expert says that the effort to keep it out is like putting up a chain link fence to keep out a mosquito. and we're still waiting to see if president trump signs the covid relief bill with millions set to lose extra unemployment benefits and eviction protections this weekend.

live from cnn headquarters in atlanta. welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom." authorities in nashville, tennessee are examining what could be human remains found after christmas morning's enormous explosion near downtown. all signs point to the blast being intentional. the mayor called it a deliberate bomb that was planted in a recreational vehicle. video posted on social media captured the moments before the explosion. >> if you can hear this message, evacuate now. if you can hear this message,

evacuate now. >> you just heard a recorded countdown warned peep to evacuate the area before the explosion. it came from inside this white rv which entered the area a few hours earlier. now, police haven't announced any suspects thus far nor has any group claimed responsibility. cnn's natasha chen explains. >> reporter: much of downtown nashville is under curfew which began christmas day into sunday afternoon. that's to keep people away from the investigation scene that now stretches several balocks. debris scattered everywhere. again, this happened early christmas morning when people first heard gunshots. called 911. then an odd sound coming from an rv giving a countdown 15 minutes until the explosion. the mayor of nashville said

every 41 businesses were destroyed. three people hospitalized with nonlife-threatening injuries. the mayor said this is intended to create chaos but the city will be resilient and rebuild. >> my message is expect a knock on your door. it's going to be a puzzle, a mystery for some period of time, but i expect them to solve it. and they're bringing the resources to bear to be able to resolve it. this should not be america where you have violence on the streets. >> reporter: though they don't know who it is now, the mayor said the city will be resilient, back to you. >> cnn spoke with the witness betsy williams. she said the scary ordeal began when she was awoken by the sound of gunfire. she told cnn's anderson cooper what happened. >> it was sometime between 4:30

and 5:00 a.m. i'm not exactly sure the first time we heard the gunshot. it sounded like an automatic weapon. and it was very loud. and it woke me up. it woke us up. you know, we didn't do anything to start with, you just wake up, after you heard that. well, then, we waited a few minutes and it happened again, so, we called 911. >> sorry -- did the first time -- sorry, just to be clear, the first time you heard it how many shots did you hear in a row? >> you know what, i didn't really count them. >> sure. >> it was probably about eight to 12. it was bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. like that. very loud. and it happened again the second time. >> do you know how much time elapsed between the first time and the second time you heard it? >> you know, it seemed like it was actually longer than it actually was, you know? maybe it was five minutes, maybe ten. >> okay.

>> and then it happened again. then we called 911. then it happened the third time, we called 911 back again just to make sure. and there were responders who had already come down there after we called the first time. we noticed, we looked out the window, and there was this white rv that was parked just across the street. so it started playing this message, evacuate now. this vehicle contains a bomb and it will explode. and i think they may have been playing some other things. it was a mechanized woman's voice, computerized. >> so, it didn't sound lie a woman had recorded it herself? it sounded computerized? >> no, it sounded like a computerized thing. you know how you have automated calls. >> sure. >> and automated stuff.

that's what it sounded like. and that went on for a good long while. because by that time, we were -- we called 911 again, wanting to know what should we do. >> joining me now in los angeles, cnn law enforcement contributor steve moore. he's also a retired supervisory agent with the fbi. given that we don't know a lot right now. authorities said this was set to create chaos and fear. set it up, a loud speakerer warning people away. clearly unusual circumstances, shall we say, under which to create chaos and fear. what do you make of this? >> it's certainly one of the strangest things i've seen. creating chaos and fear is the definition of terrorism. so this person was trying to create fear. trying to create panic, chaos. but he was doing it without

trying -- without trying to cause civilian casualties which is not what terrorists usually do. so, then you have to back away and say this is nonconventional. all terrorism is nonconventional. but this is kind of a strange brand of it. and you have to try to figure out at this point what is the intent. what does it target? what's the motive for this? >> yeah, so far, we should say -- authorities have said, it was an intentional act, they presume, but they haven't said anything about terrorism yet. we're still trying to figure out -- >> no and i'm not trying to link it to classic terrorism. i'm just saying terrorism has the same goals. this person may just be somebody who has a grudge against a company, an establishment, a person, we don't know. >> i mean, maybe against authorities themselves. against law enforcement.

we heard gunshots. the warning of a bomb. do you think those things were intended to lure in law enforcement. >> i think we can't disregard that. i think what you have here is the bomb, or the explosive device was placed in the vehicle on christmas day, when nobody's going to be in the establishments. it was set to go off between 5:30 and 6:30, when even if there was going to be somebody in the establishment, it would be way too early. it was intentionally set in an area where casualties of civilians would be almost zero. so if they just wanted to inflict pain on a business by destroying their property, why would they then fire shots which could attract the police. now, the police are there. and the civilians are kept away. so, you can't -- you can't come down, number one, on a terrific theory and put all your weight

on it yet, and you have to consider the fact that this is potentially a targeted attack against first responders. >> so, looking at some of the clues that they found so far, authorities say they found tissue they believe could be human remains. so assuming it is human. how do authorities go about determining if it's from a victim or a perpetrator? what are the forensic challenges here? >> well, there's not going to be anything in the forensics that's going to tell you necessarily. whether it's a victim or a perpetrator, they're going to still have explosive residue. things like that on them. i think what will tell you more about this is the fact that nobody may have -- if it's the perpetrator, there may not be a missing persons report. nobody's looking for them. whereas, anybody who has family and friends who might have been in that area are looking for them. and we would find out if anybody's missing. if nobody is reported missing, i

would say it's more likely you that got one or more of the perpetrators. >> all right. so, let's say you're in charge of the investigation. what's next? what are you focusing on here? >> right now, there's two prongs to this. you have the technical people coming in, trying figure out what type of explosives were used. what type of initiator was used. getting the information off the vehicle which shouldn't be hard. i mean, the police saw it for a while. even if the license plates were removed, you're going to be able to find probably the rear axle with the vin number on it. in the same way, you're working on it the other way, i would have profilers on the line and say what would fit his type of behavior. what potentially would this person have been trying to achieve. and you're also looking for anybody who has any brief with anybody who has a location on

that street, whether it's at&t, whether it's a small restaurant. when you have somebody who is deranged enough to set up a bomb of that size in the middle of the downtown area, if they're crazy enough to do that, they're probably not sane enough to need a big excuse to do something horrible. >> all right. so many unanswered questions still. but thank you so much for your insight and analysis, steve moore. >> thank you, appreciate it. there's much more to come on cnn including surging covid hospitalizations in parts of the u.s. so many people are so seriously ill, some intensive care units are running out of space. stay with us. had to stay in the hospital for 1 10 weeks, 1000s of miles from family. our driver kristin came alongg in our most desperate hour.

suzanne: bringing us home-cooked meals and gifts. andrew: day after day. we wanted to show you something. kristin: oh my god! andrew: kristin is the most uncommonly kind person that we've met. suzanne: thank you so much. an herbal stress reliever ashwagandha, that helps you turn the stressed life... into your best life. stress less and live more. with stressballs. for the better. whatever question i have i feel like there's an avenue to seek the answer. hit that app and you start a story, you're on an adventure. download a new book within seconds and it's ready to go. there's something for everybody on audible. i like short stories. short stories are easy. they're quick. i like long and like intricate stories, that's really what i love. audible originals. i like biographies. self-help. fantasy. true crime podcasts. i love it so much.

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it was the third consecutive day in which deaths there topped 300. and much of california is under stay-at-home orders because of shrinking intensive care unit capacity. and those ordered will probably be extended. health experts say the pandemic will likely get much worse in the coming weeks. the reason, people's behavior right now. during the holidays. alexander field has more. >> reporter: this christmas, the one we never imagined. >> it was january 1st of this year, when most of us heard about the covid-19 pandemic starting out of hubei province in china. i never believe wed would get to 330,000 american lives lost by christmas day and still accelerating at 1,000 deaths a day. >> reporter: almost 1 million killed in l.a. county every ten minutes. there's no more icu beds left in southern california or the san

joaquin valley. >> when i saw this, we saw this back in march and april in new york city. that's how tell skyrocketed. across the country. we're reproducing the manhattan pandemic through march and april dozens of time. >> reporter: despite the warning from the cdc, the covid could increase your chances, more than 7 million passes through the airports in the last week. >> people don't think coronavirus will happen to them. they say coronavirus will happen to another family but there is no safety, other than public health measures we have been preaching from the mountain tops. >> reporter: new travel restrictions come monday. passengers will need a negative covid flight and documentation of the results. a variant of the virus there discovered could be more transmissible. >> we're waiting to see this new strain is equally sensitive to

our vaccine. and also will be utilized by the vaccine. >> reporter: pfizer ceo albert bourla said he's confident the vaccine will prove against the pandemic to get to herd immunity. >> it will take half a year or more to get to herd immunity in this country so that everybody is able to be protected from the coronavirus. in the meantime, we still have to double-down do the masking, physical distancing and avoiding indoor gatherings. >> reporter: the covering this holiday season, unprecedented. for most americans, even the first dose of vaccine is still months away. another surge may be just days out. >> we're just seeing daily cases amplify, amplify and amplify. christmas today is going to do a similar thing. >> given the concerns of yet another surge after the

christmas, and given the fact that we have seen the numbers rise so sharply after so many major holidays this year. it should come as absolutely no surprise for everyone that the cdc is strongly recommending for new year's, you stay home or celebrate with members of your household or celebrate with your friends to do it on line. in new york, alexandra field, cnn. new testing for travelers will start monday. they'll have to show proof that they tested negative for three days of traveling. experts point out the tests can fail to detect very recent infections. and a family physician and consultant pioneered the method of pop-up coronavirus testing in his state of hawaii. thank you very much for joining us. so, i want to touch on what we just saw is there, all the travel, the good news, i saw the

numbers, car travel is down by a third in the u.s. air travel numbers seem to be down about 60%. the bad news, it's still about 1 million people a day flying over the last couple of days which is about the same as thanksgiving. and we know what happened after thanksgiving. so, how hard do you expect hospitals to be hit by the post-christmas surge caused by the holiday get togethers? >> kim, we're really afraid what's going to happen the first and especially around the second week of january. when you start looking about the january 10th to 15th mark. that timing, as we're seeing now, the results of thanksgiving and some of the earlier gatherings, it's already concerning, as your report said, we have areas in southern california and different states where we're already maxing out intensive care units. we will likely see some states hit the same area as new york did back in the beginning the pandemic. so we're very concerned. >> with that new variant of the

virus, passengers coming from the uk have to get a test within three days of flying. but a paper by cdc researchers suggests getting tested three days before only reduces the chance of transmission by as little as 5%. and to be effective, you have to get tested day of, which can reduce transmission up to 61%. otherwise in the word of one expert, it's like putting up a chain link fence to keep out a mosquito. hawaii where you are has that same requirement, a covid test 72 hours of flying to avoid quarantine. according to the data, to be effective, shouldn't that window for the testing be much smaller? >> yes, it should. i'm running the testing in different areas across the state. and one area that's a role model now is the big island of hawaii. we do three days, plus, we do another arrival test as soon as you hit the terminal.

we have good success, five to 15 cases a day on -- for three to four days and then test after that seven-day window. that will take us up to 90%. so, i am concerned with the contagion nature of this new variant that will miss quite a few. and i would agree with the findings. >> all right. to the vaccine, i understand you got yourself a couple days ago. you've been working on operation warp speed in several states. give us some insight on what the biggest challenge is as you look to ramp up through the various phases. i imagine you're monitoring the latest reactions. the latest one we saw, a person had a reaction to the moderna vaccine. >> yes, i think the country needs to understand, it's very, very rare to have any reaction. just like any injection, you

could have a reaction. we need to be equitable in the ways we get this drug administered. i'm very concerned about rural areas that's where my group is working extensively, especially in rural areas in the south, that's where you have the disparity. and we need to vaccinate the area that have the high chance of dying and we'll continue to do that. >> finally in your wheelhouse of sports, we learned that the duke women's basketball won't play due to testing concerns. you were involved in one of the biggest football challenges across the nation. there were more than 100 games cancelled. many teams have announced, they won't play their bowl games. so, what have you learned about the ability to run competitive sports during the pandemic?

and how should schools apply that knowledge, given how bad the outbreak is now, and the next couple of months, most collegiate sports are going to be played indoors? >> correct. again, college basketball is a big issue moving forward. i still am i strong believer having college athletics in our country does give our country a degree of optimism that there is a hope. and i think that a lot of it depends on testing, as we are doing across the country. but we're also seeing pockets where different schools have much higher rates. so it comes down to individual responsibilities of the players. and the coaches are also are getting positive with covid. so, i believe we can still have competitive athletics. i do also feel what the optimistic, since the number of cases that i'm involved that are causing athletes to get involved long term are still very, very

low. we're getting to the point where athletics has to be put on the hold until we move further. because it's more important to have safety than it will be to have athletic. >> absolutely. well said. we'll have to leave it there. thank you for coming on, family physician and national testing consultant dr. scott miscovich. >> thank you, ken. nearly 24 hours after a devastating blast in downtown nashville, the discovery of possible human remains could help police identify possible suspects. the latest on what we know is just ahead. stay with us. well played. (vo) add some thrill to your wish list. at the season of audi sales event. get exceptional offers now.

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and welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada and around the world. please say possible human remains have been recovered after a huge explosion near downtown nashville, tennessee, on christmas morning. more than 40 businesses were damaged, and several cars were destroyed. three people were hurt, but no deaths or life-threatening injuries have been reported. authorities say the blast appears to have been caused by a bomb inside this recreational vehicle. about 50 minutes before it blew up, a recorded message from the rv warned people to leave the area. both president donald trump and president-elect joe biden have been briefed on the blast. biden's office released a statement thanking first responders and wishing those injured a speedy recovery. in a statement, the white house also placed first responders and said mr. trump will continue to receive updates. now, the president has been spending his holiday in florida where he's been seen golfing for two days now, but millions of

americans ev s are waiting to s he will sign the stimulus bill as benefits are on the brink of running out. cnn's jeremy diamond has more from west palm beach. >> reporter: scheduled to have the military on the holiday, unlike the 3r50e6 year, the president has invited news media in that. the president disinviting the news press from the conference with the troops which means we didn't get any response on the blast in nashville. we also didn't get any word on the coronavirus relief legislation. the president earlier this week, putting that legislation into limbo, suggesting -- calling it a disgrace, and suggesting he might not sign that legislation. the president complaining about a number of items in that omnibus spending bill, as well as saying he wanted to see the stimulus checks to americans at $600 in that legislation, more

than triple to $2,000. of course, the president raised those measures only after the measure was passed. in the two days in mar-a-lago, the president so far has done nothing to get that legislation passed in congress. the president spending time two full days at this mar-a-lago resort golfing and doing nothing, it seems, to actually get that legislation through. jeremy diamond, cnn, traveling with the president in west palm beach, florida. president trump was seen on the golf course christmas day with a close ally. republican senator lindsey graham. while graham previously supported the relief package, he's now calling on congress to listen to the president's demands about increasing individual stimulus payments. he tweeted, quote, after spending some time with president trump today, i'm convinced he's more determined than ever to increase stimulus

payments to $2,000 per person. for more on the stimulus payments, he will soon expire. let's bring in a professor of college in london. thanks for joining us. i want to pick up the covid relief bill made it's way to mar-a-lago. where it presumably sits there. the president wants to give americans $2,000, instead of $600 and democrats agree. what's wrong with the president using the strong-arm arctics to force the congressional republicans to give americans more aid? >> well, kim, as we know, this bill was a long time coming, it took months of essentially bipartisan effort to deliver the coronavirus relief bill, as well as the pending bill. last week saying the process there wasn't any indication from president trump even to his closest aides was going to take

issue with some of the compromises that had been made. and that included the amount of those checks. the situation that we have now, the bill passed to a situation of great urgency with unemployment benefits set to expire at the end of this month, with the government shutdown looming next week, by disagreeing on this point, trump has blown up the bill at this usual moment of urgency. we saw democrats trying to push through the larger tech amounts over the last couple of days. that did not move forward. that would have increased the amount of the bill over $250,000 that republicans are not going to go for. this has really put congress back in a tough position. more importantly, at the has put many americans in an extremely difficult position. >> so was it just the sheer dollar amount here? we've seen a growing rift, it seems between congressional republicans and a couple issues here. why do you think they've chosen

this moment to break with the president when they green-lit almost every reaction, every utterance for the last four years? is this a sign that the president might not be as influential post-presidency as some predicted? >> well, that's still a possibility. right now, we see trump having a pretty strong grip on the gop, especially the house. especially most elected officials in the house are still reluctant to push back against the president directly. with the statement about the checks, again, this is part of a much larger legislation package that, again, congress needs to get through. that this is one thing where you'll see congress, congressional representatives and senators, you know, trying to find this middle road between not agitating the president, but also sticking to what they know needs to go forward for the bill. and one way to look at this is more trump's kind of pushing back at what he has seen as some

increasing resistance from the senate in particular, from mitch mcconnell, and perhaps he's throwing a wrench in what was a pretty smooth process at the very end for the rest of the republicans. >> julie norman, lecturer in politics at the university college-london. mani's deli is one of chicago's legendary restaurants. it's famous for corned beef sandwiches and cherry pies and is a favorite haunt of former president barack obama. it face s faces due to the coro. adri adrian broadis reports. >> i'm not done changing it. >> reporter: chicago's iconic jewish deli was started by the

raskins. >> i am dan raskin. i'm a fourth generation owner since at manny's. >> reporter: manny's. >> all traditional delicatessen that you cannot find in any cities in the world. >> for 40 years, it's the place where i go to clog my arteries and clear my head. >> reporter: manny's closing its doors for good because of covid-19 would be like someone you love dying. >> i think a lot of people would cry. a nostalgic place would be gone. we're losing enough of them. >> reporter: inside, the walls have history. >> i definitely think my favorite memory is when president obama came in. >> reporter: days after obama was elected in 2008, his first public stop was at manny's. >> he wanted to come in and get a corned beef sandwich and shear pie. >> best corned beef you'll find. sliced by the best corned beef

man behind the counter, you'll find anywhere. gino. >> reporter: it's 70-year-old gino's second home. >> it's like coming to work and being with your family, you know. especially now it's important, more so than ever, you know. >> reporter: the empty chairs and declining revenue are reminders of what the pandemic has stolen. >> it's been hard, especially businesses around town, there's not a lot of people working in the city. this is just manny checking on a customer. >> reporter: memories can't protect manny's from the pitfalls of the pandemic. on twitter, dan asked for help, and customers came to the rescue. >> at certain times during the pandemic there has definitely been low-lows. >> reporter: decades before covid, manny's faced challenges. >> riots in the '60s. >> reporter: that was following the assassination of dr. martin

luther king jr. it forced them to pivot. >> he said when the riots started then they decided to close because it wasn't safe. >> reporter: fast forward to 2020. >> it's heartbreaking. >> reporter: an arrest following the police killing of george employed forced manny's to adapt again. >> the past eight months, when you look back at events, it's not just covid, it's the rioting and everything that compiles on top of each other, and having to survive it. >> reporter: survival is in dan's dna. he found a way to keep business going by delivering to chicago suburbs. a model involving more labor to back up everything and go. and it costs more, but it means 43 employees continue working. and with each meal, dan delivers

hope. >> we will survive and we'll get through it. we're very fortunate we've had some great support. and people are understanding that we're working under different conditions. and we're here for people to place orders. countries in asia were once the model for how to track and contain the coronavirus. now, they're setting new daily case records. we'll have a live report from tokyo just ahead. stay with us. i love audible because it's changed my life for the better. whatever question i have i feel like there's an avenue to seek the answer.

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seeing surging of new coronavirus cases, japan broke its new daily infection rate for the third day in a row with more than 3,800 new cases on friday. and in south korea, new infections continue to linger near thursday's all-time daily high with more than 1100 new cases reported on friday.

now, turning to europe, during his christmas day message, pope francis called for c vaccines bob made for everyone, especially the most vulnerable. this comes as the eu was preparing to begin its vaccination rollout on sunday after approved pfizer's vaccine earlier this week. let's take a closer look at asia and londolondon. py were serial vanier. and selina wang. where do you want to start? >> kim, great to be with you. that's right is right, here in the country, we're seeing the continue break the high covid-19 rates for infection for three consecutive days. the country has also confirmed its first new cases of new potentially more dangerous variant of the covid-19 coming from five passengers from the uk. japan, along with 40 other

countries, have restricteded travel from the uk. it is clear here that the outbreak is gaining momentum. if you look at the data, it took more than nine mas for japan to report infections. but in less than two months, that figure has doubled to more than 2,000 cases. japan has yet to declare ail state of emergency. the country also has to means to enforce but the prime minister is considering enforcing shorter hours in bars and restaurants by introducing penalties. in south korea, we're also seeing a record surge in cases. this is a country that had been deemed a model nation for covid-19 in its aggressive tracing system. but now covid cases, record highs of more than 1,000 day. the government has banned large gatherings and ordered tourist attractions to close. but the challenge here for south korea, in the previous way it dealt with, most of the waves

were coming from clusters in nightclubs but now they're coming from restaurants and offices. it is important to put in context that the recent surge we're seeing in japan and south korea really pale in comparison to the massive increases in parts of europe and united states. but itten is important reminder how hard it is to contain the family in winter months, when cold weather is driving people indoors. and when the whole world is dealing with the covid-19 fatigue. kim. >> absolutely. that's exactly what we're seeing here. cyril, you know, it seems like whenever we talk, it's always ail case of good news/bad news. today, you're dealing with the spread of that new covid variant. the good news, the vaccine is being rolled out there. >> yes, absolutely. look, experts warn that the new covid variant was probably from france. the new case was detected in

christmas day, as it were. a french national who travelled from the uk tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week. and because he had traveled from the uk, his test was sent for dna sequencing. and it came back yesterday that indeed he had the new variant. we're today, look, kim, he may not be the only one. we're told that there are other tests currently undergoing dna sequencing that presents some clues that they may now also belong to the new variance. it may be before long, i'll tell you there's more than one person who have the new variant here in france. that's the bad news. let's leave that aside for a moment, even though it is of concern because we know the new variant is more transmissible. the good news is that the eu is starting its covid vaccination program tomorrow. look. it is a massive undertaking. what are we talking about here, almost half a billion people, 450 million people across seven

of these countries starting this vaccination campaign. the eu made is it very clear there aren't going to be enough vaccines for adults in the sex few months. eu considers its job is done in the sense they have negotiated the portfolio of vaccines for all eu member states. they've made them available. those vaccines have been trucked to the 27-member states. the first ones arrived in paris this morning. and then it's up to the next country to vaccinate. first jabs delivered less than 24 hours from now in paris. it's just going to be a handful of people on the first day. people who are very vulnerable to this virus, due to their age, due to other pathologies, perhaps. then it's going to be ramped up over a matter of months. france believes and hopes that they will be able to open this up to the rest of the population, after they've done the most vulnerable patients by summer of 2021, kim. >> yeah.

we will all have to be very patient. thank you so much, selina wang in tokyo and cyril vanier in paris, appreciate it. severe winter weather is plaguing parts of the u.s. flood and freeze warnings are spreading across the country. who's in danger and when will it let up? we'll have all of the details next. stay with us. enough, crohn's. enough, crohn's. for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis, stelara® can provide relief, and is the only approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the surface of the intestine in uc. you, getting on that flight? back off, uc. stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. rpls, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. lasting remission can start with stelara®.

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winter is making its presence felt in the deep south, as a good portion of florida is under freeze warnings, as well as flood warnings in the northeast. let's bring in cnn meteorologist derek van dam. derek, i will take this unseasonable cold here in atlanta over what we're seeing in other part it's of the country? >> would you believe me that i say it's so cold that iguanas are falling out of industries in florida? it's happening. i'll explain in a minute. i promise. you got to talk about the flood threat across the northeast because that's a main concern for residents throughout new england. remember, about ten days ago we had that blockbuster storm. now the storm that's come

through recently has produced mainly rain. the rain has allowed for the snow pack to melt away. you get an additioning 2, 3, 4 inches of rainfall on top of that snow and you've got problems. let me take you to new york and see how the rivers burst over their banks. that water flood into various properties and businesses leaving the scenes like what you're seeing on your tv screen. it's been a very difficult past couple days for them as some areas have gone through change. look at the lake-effect snow picking up behind the cold front and the rain band that's that's just now moving off the coast of maine. there it is the arctic blast behind it. that's the other big story, as the temperatures, they are dropping quickly. and it is a far cry than what we felt yesterday at this time for much of the eastern seaboard. outside of the big apple, 10 degrees, pittsburgh, feels like

3 degrees below freezing. that's when you factor in the wind. cold air all the way to central florida. we have freeze warnings and freeze advisories in place. that shade of blue is a hard freeze warning. i talked about iguanas got to cover this because this is a real phenomenon. this are cold-blooded animals they actually become immobile at temperatures less than 45 degrees. basically, their bodies become paralyzed because it's so cold outside. they start to fall from frees where they would house themselves. it's just too cold for these animals. that's an occurrence in south florida. i've never seen it myself but it's a thing. go google it. >> i feel like one of those lizards myself when i go to the parking lot after the show. >> you just want to take a nap right there, i agree. >> yeah, exactly. appreciate it, man. well, christmas was largely

subdued around the world because of covid. st. peter's square was quiet. it's usually packed with thousands of visitors but because of a nationwide lockdown in italy, the pope gave mass indoors. the latest korea services with services beamed around the hall. red square in moscow looked like a postcard covered in a blanket of snow. russians traditionally give gifts on their main winter holiday on new years. festive dressed surfers hit the beach until sydney. >> there's not really many of them which i'm not going to complain about. >> it was a far different scene at sydney's bronti beach. new prime minister called this crowdless scene appalling. well, this christmas, a message of hope from queen

elizabeth ii. in they are broadcast, she credited her medical staff who worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. and tried to assure others away from friends and family that they're not alone. >> remarkably, a year that has necessarily kept people apart, has in many ways brought us closer. kwo across the commonwealth, my family and i have been inspired by stories of people volunteering in their community, helping those in need. in the united kingdom and around the world, people have risen magazinificently to the challen of the era. and i'm so quite moved by this indomitable spirit. >> that wraps up this hour of "newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. "new day" it just ahead. ♪

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one of nashville tennessee's main tourism districts is one giant crime scene. >> it blew debris where my wife was sleeping. >> the spirit of our city cannot be broken. we're not going to rest until these people are brought to justice. >> for most americans, even the first dose of the vaccine is still months away, but another surge may be just days out. >> i just never believed that we would get to