new garlique healthy blood pressure formula helps maintain healthy blood pressure with a custom blend of ingredients. i'm taking charge, with garlique. one of nashville, tennessee's main tourism industries is one giant crime scene. >> it blew out windows in the top floors and debris where my wife was sleeping. >> the spirit of our city will not be broken but we're not going to rest until those responsible for those outrageous and cowardly acts are brought to justice. for most americans even the first dose of vax vaccine is

still months away. >> i just didn't believe weed get to 300,000 lives lost by christmas day and still accelerating. >> it seems like he's not going to sign the bill or veto it, if he doesn't sign the bill by the end of the day, then actual unemployment benefits will cease. ♪ good morning, thank you so much for joining us. i'm boris sanchez. viktor and christi have the morning off. we're following developments in that christmas day explosion in nashville, but first, we have to mention the clock is ticking for president trump to sign a desperately needed covid relief bill. after today, more than 12 million americans will lose their extended unemployment insurance, and adding to uncertainty for millions of americans the threat of other surge in covid-19 infections.

nationwide there are more than 100,000 people in the hospital right now. we'll get back to that in just a moment. first, let's pivot to the explosion in nashville, where investigators have found what might be human remains near that blast site. cnn's natasha chen joins us now live from nashville. that tanatash natasha, we have former fbi special agent james gigliano on earlier. >> reporter: this is highly unusual to see a warning give out before an explosion. a 15-minute warn. people called 911. and when six officers arrived from metro nashville police, they heard that recorded message playing from an rv, telling people they had 15 minutes to

see vac wai evacuate. this is a terrifying moment for individuals who live nearby. they heard that message, they heard that sound. police worked to get people to a safe place. one woman who evacuated told anderson cooper, she had hoped to spend christmas day lounging around, but here's what she said yesterday. >> we were on our way back down there. we saw the thing, the fireball went all the way up past the at&t. above the at&t building everything just -- i mean, everything shook. it was -- it was quite the blast. >> reporter: so, you're hearing her talk about her returning to her home. because she had already left it. she said when she was on her way back and saw that explosion, she tried to look at her home. everything was scattered everywhere. but she did see her christmas tree still standing there.

so a really devastating scene for people. of course, now, it is impossible to get that close. we are on second avenue, the street where it happened, but the blast site is several blocks away from where we are. and there's a curfew to try to keep people away from this investigation area until sunday afternoon. and as you mentioned there was tissue found, believed to be human remains. that's what the police chief told us last night. i asked specifically where it was found. and perhaps if it might relate to whether somebody was inside the rv. he said those questions could not be answered yet. there's just such a debris field right now that they're combing through. boris. >> we're hoping to get answers from law enforcement later today. natasha chen thank you so much let's bring in former assistant secretary for national security julia kayyem -- it appears we have difficulties and actually

lost juliet. let's go to alison kosik. she's following the latest developments with covid-19. she filed this report. >> reporter: starting monday in the uk, all passengers must have a negative covid-19 test within three days of boarding a flight to the u.s. new york governor andrew cuomo praised the decision by the cdc for passengers to be tested who are flying from the uk. testing people for covid-19 before they get on planes it common sense. we cannot repeat the mistake of the past. and we must continue to do everything we can to keep new yorkers and americans safe, cuomo said in a statement friday. the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention announced the new testing requirements for travelers but research by the agency's own scientists shows the rule may have only a small impact on the spread of the new uk strain of the coronavirus. according to researchers on the cdc's covid-19 response team,

testing three days before a flight might reduce the risk of spreading the virus by just 5% to 9%. pfizer and moderna are testing to see whether their vaccines work against the new variant which thus far has not been detected in the u.s. southern california is grappling with surging covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths as the state passes another grim milestone. reporting more than 300 new covid deaths for a third straight day. in los angeles county, a person dies every ten minutes from covid-19, county's public health director says. >> i think people don't think coronavirus will happen to them. they think coronavirus will happen to another family. but there is no safety, other than those public health measures that we have been preaching from the mountaintops. >> reporter: as christmas comes to an end and we head into the new year, experts say the safest way to celebrate is at home. with the people you live with,

or online with friends and family. for those that host a new year's celebration, the cdc suggests staying outside, limiting the number of guests. wearing and making extra masks available. and keeping background music low to avoid shouting. >> we've just seen these amplification events and that's what's happened at the end of this year in the u.s. we had -- you know, thanksgiving. we had labor day. we had halloween. each one of these events brought lots of people together. and just gave the virus more fuel to move through the population. so, christmas is going to do a similar thing. >> reporter: and the tsa says more than 1 million people pass through security checkpoints at airports across the country, just days before the christmas. it's stoking fears from health care experts that we could see another spike in coronavirus cases on top of the ones that

we're seeing now. boris. >> all right, alison kosik, thank you for that. juggling a lot of news this morning. fortunately, we were able to take care of the technical difficulties to get back to the explosion in nashville where investigators found what might be human remains near the blast site. let's bring in juliette kayyem, she's a security analyst and also a former assistant secretary for the department of homeland security. ju juliette, just on the surface with the details, what stands out to you about this incident? >> it's highly unusual. so, that's why we're reserving judgment on what motivation it is, right. so, when you have the prewarnings, you have massive explosive material. but no desire to have a mass casualty event, you have potentially remains, but we don't know whose remains those are. if this is a suicide.

it's a dramatic suicide. if it's an industrial attack. there's no manifesto we know of. so, the data or the facts we know are pointing in multiple directions right now, in terms of who and why. but what we do know, fortunately, knock on wood, is that this explosion that may be more akin to oklahoma city than, say, the boston marathon attack, really, you know, at least have limited harm on the streets of nashville. >> yeah. i'm curious, this is what appears to be an see norm muss blocks-wide radius. how difficult is it going to be for investigators to find pieces of that explosive device? >> i think the investigation, the physical investigation should be relatively easy because here's what we know so far. there is a picture of the rv, presumably then we can begin to figure out who owned it. who purchased it. who rented it. where was it last. explosives like this in terms of purchasing are going to leave a

footprint, investigatory footprint where did he or they get them, when were they purchased. is there activity now that the fbi is investigating that they can go to stores, they can go to warehouses, they can go online to determine who may have bought this stuff. so, i'm pretty optimistic in the way one can be optimistic that the physical evidence will lead to understanding who it is, or who they are, relatively quickly. and i actually think that's probably why we haven't seen the fbi at the last two, i believe, press conferences. this is the kind of investigation that is -- that is beneficial in terms of what the voo fbi has to go with at this stage. >> yeah, there's not been an implication that this is terrorism. investigators have not implied that. >> no. >> is there anything that you've seen that might indicate it pointing in that direction? >> no. that's why i've been really

cautious on the air the last 24 hours. i know twitter and others really want an answer, right? you want it. so the difference between terror and terrorism. there's a difference between an intentional attack and terrorism. we know that the threat environment is higher, for a variety of reasons, the election, politics, the way the world is now. i have to say, if you look ask me, looking at this, at what i see now, it's a really odd critical infrastructure attack. there's lots of talk with at&t. the facts are biddied b buildin don't know. there's no manifesto for buildings. and i turn to suicide. this is quite dramatic for suicide. in this case, it's more historic type of attack of what we used to see the i.r.a. do in the olden days so to speak.

i'm very cautious at the motivation at this stage and i think we ought to be -- you don't want to focus on a particular threat or motivation and then ignore where the real evidence is taking you. >> yeah, you don't want to essentially confirm your own bias. >> yes. >> when you're looking at the data. the thing that stands out to me is this warning. >> yes. >> for 15 minutes this automated warning was playing saying that a bomb was going to go off or something similar telling people to leave the area. i'm curious, have you seen something similar in previous incidents like this, in previous investigations? and ultimately, what did that say about the incident what did that reveal? >> so, political terrorists in the past who actually wanted political gains look at the i.r.a. and sometimes political violence in the '60s, you didn't want people dead. you just wanted to make a point. but we haven't seen anything like this.

the car, the use of the audio, all of that stuff you're talking about, it's like out of a movie. it's a little diabolical. it obviously saved a lot of lives. it feels like it comes out of a movie. we haven't seen anything quite like this, at least not in modern history. that's why you can't really peg this thing quite yet. i will say, to do something like that, to have the prerecording -- to have it work -- this is hard to do. to have it work. to have the rv detonate on time. apparently there was some music. all of it was strange. as i said,dy bo diabolically. >> we also know there are police officer stls th officers there that got gem out. juliette kayyem, thank you.

>> thank you, boris. millions of americans are waking up with fresh fear about how to pay the bills. now, a republican senatorization the rest of his party should get on board and back the president's 11th hour demand for bigger paychecks directly to americans. plus, the rush to build the border wall before the trump presidency ends. supporters say it's vital for security. activists say it is creating an environmental disaster. we'll take you to the board. from our expert technicians armed with state of the art tools and technology, to genuine parts made for the perfect fit. whether it's our place... ...or yours. we're there. rain or shine, day or night. no one knows your vehicle better. to learn all the ways we can be at your service, call, click or visit a dealership near you. robinwithout the commission fees. so, you can start

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millions of americans now face a stark new reality. their unemployment benefits have run out, and there is little sign that a coronavirus deal will give them relief anytime soon. the bill that congress passed with a veto-proof majority is sitting in mar-a-lago, stalled, waiting on the president's signature. the president called the bill a disgrace this week and issued a new demand for $2,000 direct payments to americans. republicans in the house rejected that on christmas eve. but a republican senator who spent christmas with the president now says he supports that change. cnn's sarah westwood is live for us in west palm beach florida, this morning. sarah, senator lindsey graham said the last-minute checks for americans is reasonable. even though he voted for the bill as passed. is there any expectation that other hesitant republicans might

move that direction on this? >> reporter: well, boris, this will certainly put more pressure on them to have to weigh in on the president's new demand. up until now, many of them were sort of trotting water. and hoping that it sets up the releefl for the coronavirus relief bill that is sitting in mar-a-lago awaiting his signature. but now, the president has gotten a reversal of sorts out of senator graham who voted for the bill and vocal in his support of it. that's the kind of support he wants to see from other republicans who voted for this bill under the impression flat white house backed it. because it was the white house that brought to the table, $600 being the amount for the individual checks, because republicans didn't support anything higher than that. but graham, after getting off t golf course yesterday tweeted out his support. i want to read you what he said. after spending some time with president trump today i am

convinced he's more determined than ever to increase stimulus payments to $2,000 per person and challenge section 230 big tech liability protection. that 230 liability protection, republicans and democrats would not appeal that law. been tweeting about this morning saying time to end section 230 before it's too late. and tomorrow, after americans celebrated christmas, the president was doubling down on the relief bill signature saying made many calls and had many more. it wasn't their fault, it was china, give our people the money. of course, if this wasn't complicated enough, boris. that relief deal is tied to a spending bill that's needed to keep the government open, if he

doesn't sign it by monday. we're looking at the potential of a government shutdown. >> sarah westwood reporting from west palm beach, thanks for that. though, the president makes the claim that he may stay in office another four years, another tacited admission is the fact that his administration is rushing to finish at least 450 miles of border wall along the u.s./mexico border before his presidency ends. activists have documented what they call an environmental catastrophe unfolding along the border. cnn's ed lavandera has more. >> reporter: if you want a taste of life on the arizona/mexico border, ride shotgun in kelly kimbro's 1992 desert-beaten ford pickup truck. >> we're not big time rancor ra ranchers. we have a lifestyle.

>> reporter: it's hard to tell where it begins and ends. this year, that changed. the trump administration is carving a 19-mile wall right through this wide open valley. what's it like to see this massive construction project on your property? >> we did not think it was necessary. >> reporter: construction crews moved in about a year ago. this is what the wall looked like across the san bernardino valley in february. this is what it looks like today. some see it as a long scar. >> and the american taxpayer doesn't see -- they hear build that wall, it's going to secure this country. i promise you, it's never going to secure the country. not any better than it's already secured. >> reporter: in the final weeks of the trump presidency, the rush is on to finish building at least 450 miles of the border walls. customs and border protection officials say at least 438 miles of that are now complete. as the coronavirus pandemic raged this year, border wall construction never stopped. for months, anti-wall activists

have documented what they describe as an environmental catastrophe, unfolding along the southern border. crews blasting and bull dozing through rugged mountainous terrain. border patrol officials say the new walls are vital to patrolling these remote regions. >> good infrastructure buys us more time, gives us the critical time we need to get to an area. we hope in the future it pace off dividends. >> reporter: the army corps of engineers say eight border wall projects have been finished with crews actively working around the clock on 37 other project. >> good evening, my fellow americans -- >> reporter: the question is what happens when president-elect joe biden takes office. biden has pledged he would not build another foot of border wall. >> construction is taking place. it's going up this mountain. >> reporter: brandon judd leading the national border patrol council. the union has been an ally of president trump.

judd said it would be foolish to stop the construction now. >> you can see the trench that goes up that line. those are the footers. what, you're just going to throw that away? that doesn't make any sense because now you're throwing money down the toilet. >> reporter: halting construction isn't enough for some antiwar activists. >> take the wall down in areas we need to be taken down right away. >> reporter: we hiked to the border wall gate stretching to arizona with environmentalist kate scott. she said this construction is a deadly threat to wildlife that migrates through this area. >> i can tell you, we wake up, we cry, we steady ourselves and we get to work. because it's just so painful for me to witness this monstrosity. >> reporter: but the wall also isn't being built enough for jim chilton. >> the international boundary. >> reporter: this isn't the kind of wall you want? >> no. >> reporter: his ranch spans out over 50,000 acres in arizona.

hitten is lobbying for a wall on this spot. he said it's a low-priority area because it's so remote but he does have the ear of the border wall's biggest cheerleader. president trump put chilton in t the spotlight last near. >> mr. president, we need a wall. i offered the federal government ten acres of land here on my private property to have a forward operation base. i offered for a dollar a year. and i even told them, i'll give you the dollar, if you can't find one. >> reporter: you've made the border patrol, the federal government an offer that you thought they couldn't refuse? >> they said they would study it. that was four years ago. >> reporter: chilton's ranch sits between a 25-mile gap in existing border wall and he said it's prime terrain for drug smugglers. he's deployed hidden camera to

capture 1,000 images of camouflagedglesmugglers. >> my land is a cartel land. >> this wall is purely political theater. it does nothing to actually stop people and drugs from the stopping the border. >> reporter: he drove us around oregon international monument. a breathtaking national park in the heart of the desert. the tranquility of the landscape is broken by the sounds of crews building more than 60 miles of wall. part of it through this national park. he called himself a disaster tour guide. >> they're pulling out all of the stops to rush this project through. >> reporter: he used to work as a u.s. national park ranger at the oregon pipe monument. he said he resigned after president trump took office. >> we're seeing our communities ripped away. we're seeing ecosystems being destroyed. we don't care what you call it. this thing is a disaster.

>> reporter: ed lavandera, cnn, along the u.s./mexico border. next, nashville police revealing the six officers who helped save lives by evacuating the area targeted by intentional explosion. details on where the investigation stands. plus, europe set to start covid-19 vaccinations this weekend. we'll take you live to paris where the first doses are arriving right now. eraser. just wet, squeeze and erase tough messes like bathtub soap scum... and caked-on grease from oven doors. now mr. clean magic eraser comes in disposable sheets. they're perfect for icky messes on stovetops... in microwaves... and all over the house. for an amazing clean, try mr. clean magic eraser, and mr. clean magic eraser sheets.

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we're continuing to monitor the breaking developments in nashville, tennessee, where business say someone intentionally detonated a bomb near the tourist district. investigators found what might be human remains near the site of the blast. the blast injure lead people. a really odd thing for 15 minutes before the explosion an audio recording warned people to evacuate the area. six police officers rushing to the scene responding to gunshots. are being credited with getting people out of harm's way. they're being rightfully hailed as heroes. now, authorities say there are no credible threats signaling a credible attack before christmas, so the fbi is asking anyone with information to please come forward. turning now in the fight

against the coronavirus, more european countries are set to begin vaccinations tomorrow as a new infectious strain emerges around the world. let's go to cyril vanier in france. cyril, what's the latest, are people ready to receive the vaccine? >> reporter: look, boris, after being one of the epicenters of the vaccine, europe is ready to open a new chapter. it's a massive rollout program. the pfizer biontech vaccine, being manufactured in belgium and being sent to 27 member states. remember, the european union, that's almost 500 million people. that gives you a sense of the magnitude of what's happening here. it's going to be very gradual. here in france, where i am, the very first doses have arrived in paris and they're going to be administered tomorrow morning. when i say gradual, i mean, it's

just going to be a dozen patients in the geriatric ward in a hospital outside of the capitol. and that's going to grow. two establishments are getting shots tomorrow. 20 the next week, several hundred the week after that. and the authorities don't expect here in france that they'll be able to make the vaccine available to the entire population until this summer. so, again, that gives you a sense of how gradual it is. but europe will start turning a corner tomorrow. >> and, cyril, france has also confirmed that first case of the new coronavirus variant. what are we learning about that? >> reporter: yeah. that's worrying news because the first signs are that this new variant is highly transmissible. we're learning that a french national who lives in the uk, where this virus -- this variant was first detected, travelled to france a week ago. and then after that, got tested positive for covid-19.

because he had traveled from the uk, his test was then sent for dna sequencing. and we found out on christmas day, on the 25th of december, that indeed, the particular variant of the particular type of covid that he had was this new uk originated variant. and so, it bears repeating that this patient is actually fine. he's in isolation. but france is now contact tracing trying to isolate all of the people he came into contact with, to avoid this spreading any further, boris. >> cyril vanier reporting from paris. thank you for that. looking at airports, tourist destinations or maybe around your town there's a clear theme. covid fatigue. plenty of americans ignoring the warnings be about surges across the country. the u.s. heading into the year approaching 19 million

infections and more than 330,000 deaths. that's effectively how we can measure 2020. a key part of how we'll measure 2021 depends on vaccines and how many americans will actually take them. the latest cdc tally puts the number of americans who have gotten shots in the arm just over 1 million. joining us now, cnn global affairs analyst and columnist for "washington post" max boot. max, thank you for joining us this weekend. in your latest column, you worry about how many americans are actually going to take the vaccine. and you attribute that concern to what you call, quote, the biggest divide in modern america between those who are rational and those who are not. help us understand. >> well, that's right, boris. we have a pandemic of irrationality and ignorance in this country. and it's -- you know, there's a huge dichotomy here between on the one hand you have these brilliant scientists who helped to come up with the coronavirus

vaccine in record time. we need to appreciate what an amazing achievement this is. because previously, the fastest time for development of any other vaccine was the mumps vaccine in the 1960s which took four years whereas, the coronavirus vaccine has been developed in less than a year and it's 95% effective. i mean, that's an astonishing achievement. but that achievement can be very easily undermined if people don't take it. and dr. fauci has said we need to have 75%, 85%, maybe 90% of the population taking the vaccine to achieve herd immunity. but roughly, a third of the country are saying they probably or definitely will not take the vaccine and there's no real rational reason why that's the case. but there have been so many conspiracy those are and innuendo about coronavirus online, judge as the election.

there are crazy conspiracies like qanon, we have the potential to solve a lot of our problems including the coronavirus. but the question is will most americans be rational enough to do the right thing. or will they give in to conspiracy mongering, fear and ignorance. and that's the challenge that we're facing right now. >> yeah. i think there's absolutely an overlap between folks who are susceptible to conspiracy theories about the election. and folks who are susceptible to conspiracy theories about the vaccine and the pandemic to begin with. ultimately, do you think the vaccine can end the pandemic? or do you think it will get caught in this sort of realm between what you refer to as the land of facts and a la la land of alternative facts and fake news? >> well, there's no question that coronavirus in general has become part of this cultural war that we have. and the vaccine is certainly going to get caught up in that.

i mean, just look at what's happened over the past year where we have way more deaths than we need to have, if we just had a universal mask mandate. if everybody simply wore a mask every time they left the house, a lot of americans would still about live. we would have a lot fewer casualties in our near future. but people refuse to do that because they just don't believe that the virus is serious. they don't believe that masks help. they essentially ignore science. and unfortunately, there's a lot of snake oil peddlers online who indulge the conspiracy theories in the way that president trump and his followers indulge conspiracy theories about the election. and also deeply complicit about conspiracy theories with the masks and unfortunately, that's going to carry over into the vaccine. and we've seen that a lot already with trump followers circulating these crazy conspiracy theories and

suggesting that the vaccine is unsafe. unfortunately, trump is doing nothing to dispel that rumormonger, which he ought to be doing. it's going to be a struggle to achieve herd immunity with the virus which we have the scientific capabilities to do but do we have the buy-in from the public. and i think that remains very much to be determined. and i hope people understand it is safe and it is incredibly important for the vaccine. >> so, max, i want to get your thoughts on moving forward. because i certainly sympathize with the argument i've heard from some is that part of the reason we're facing this wave of irrationality is that movement of skepticism and irrationality has become galvanized by people in power and the media painting caricatures out of these folks. deplorables and that kind of thing. from your perspective, what

would be the best way to move forward, to persuade 20% to one-third of americans who are skeptical about the pandemic, who refuse to wear masks, how would you go back pabout persua them that, perhaps, you know, facts are a real thing and they should follow science? >> well, you need to have the messenger that they trust telling them to take the vaccine. that means folks like fox news. that 19s newsmax, that means president trump, they need to be messaging about the vaccine. unfortunately, i don't see that happening to a sufficient degree right now. it's kind of a paradox with president trump because he wants to take credit for operation warp speed, he's constantly bragging has been how quickly the vaccine was developed. when it came time to take it he hasn't taken it yet. president-elect biden took it. and president trump is spreading conspiracy theories to undermine

american democracy, instead of trying to dispel the conspiracy theories about the vaccine that he seems to be very proud of. so, unfortunately, i think a lot of his followers are spreading misinformation which very dangerous. >> yeah, it says a lot, max, that the president is tweeting more nonsense about the election being rigged than he is warning people to do very specific things to prevent the spread of coronavirus. max boot, we have to leave it there. thanks. >> thanks, boris. several states are making a push to get back to in-person learning at schools after the holiday break. a look at how 2020 has changed the face of education, next. but we've always used brita. it's two stage-filter... doesn't compare to zerowater's 5-stage. this meter shows how much stuff, or dissolved solids, gets left behind. our tap water is 220. brita? 110... seriously?

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welcome back. 2020 has changed so much for so many people. one of the hardest hit parts of society has to be our schools. teachers, students and administrators all working to find a way forward day by day. bianna golodryga shares some of their stories. ♪ >> reporter: a few things in 2020 drove home the reality of the coronavirus pandemic more than millions of children being sent home from school. just weeks after the virus began

spreading across communities large and small, frantic officials made the decision to suspend in-person learning. like everything else in the early stages of the virus, no one knew how long it would last. >> the nation's largest public school system in new york city is shutting down. >> reporter: schools across the country are closing for two weeks. in some cases like here in new york, a month. >> reporter: those estimates turned out to be optimistic. as the reality of the pandemic set in, so did the realization of how long school buildings would be closed. >> we're not going to be able to go back to school. >> remote learning for the rest of the school year. >> reporter: and what would be needed to adapt. many schools were essentially learning on the fly how to conduct virtual teaching while attempting to finish the school year. >> a lot of teachers have said we're building the airplane while it's going down the runway. another teacher said, oh, it's bigger than that, we're apollo 13. >> reporter: the same happened with colleges. >> the coronavirus has been forcing many colleges and

universities across the country to shut down classes and dormitories, forcing students to connell online. >> reporter: but a class of 2020 graduation was sometimes a ceremony of one online. >> it's like a hug. >> reporter: or it came to them. >> it's so good to see you. >> reporter: or it took place on a ski lift. those graduating from college failings the brutal reality of looking for a job during a family-fuel pandemic-fueled recession. >> in a case from now, when we reflect we all have this shared experience. you'll be able to say, oh, you're class of 2020? we know what happened. >> reporter: you'll learn how helpful educational technology can be, but also it's many limitations. it proved to be no match for in-person school learning. and as the months of online learning dragged on, experts began to worry about how far behind students may be falling.

>> not only is it we're getting classes started but they're staying out on exposures. it's kind of a double whammy. >> reporter: a triple whammy for those students unable to logon. online learning made existing inequalities worst. as students from families struggle to get connected. school attendance dropped prompt something administrators to even send out social workers door to door. in hopes of finding missing students and helping them to get back to class virtually. >> we have some families that are just -- that they're having a difficult time with life in general right now. they're, you know, losing their jobs. they're maybe losing a house. and so school gets put on the back burner. it's no longer a priority. >> reporter: the need to find child care for children learning from home meant some parents giving up their jobs. >> it didn't really make sense for me to go to work and pay

somebody else to be home with my own kids. >> reporter: throughout the summer, school administrations around the country began a monumental task of figuring out what they would need to order to safe reopen their buildings. starting with how to safely get students back inside. >> as you can see, we've labeled our seats where we will space students out. they'll enter here. we'll have hand sanitizer that is replenished throughout the school day. >> reporter: with the uncertainty of when school buildings might reopen. some families became creative organizing pandemic pods with other students. >> we wanted to create an environment where our kids could work together and be together. and have that social. >> i'd rather be in a pod with my friends than being at home just working on school by myself. >> reporter: when the academic year finally begin some schools

had to deal with outbreaks and quarantines. >> this morning, two staff members in high schools were forced to quarantine. >> school days are slated to begin september 10th. we're going to hold that for a few days. we made a few days here to get it right. >> reporter: and a few silver linings. >> there are people with covid at schools but they really seem to be coming from the communities. we're not seeing large outbreak. >> reporter: with more evidence as the year went on, severe illness due to covid-19 is relatively rare among children, a greater push was made to find ways to get them back into the classrooms. >> the science is actually quite good and tells us there say way to keep adults and kids safe in school. >> reporter: even that wasn't without conflict as pressure for families pushing for buildings to be reopened at times clashed with other parents worrying

about safety measures. >> the scariest part is you just -- you have no idea what you're walking into, into those classes. >> i could be putting my students at risk. i could be putting my family members at risk. >> reporter: along unknown, the long-term social and academic costs what students went through this pandemic year. >> it's not going to be oh, this is great. let me put my kid back to school and work and everything will go back to the way it was in 2019. i think these kids are going to need a lot of attention. >> reporter: as 2020 draws to a close, a widely available vaccine appears to be on the horizon. it cannot come soon enough for so many families, students and teachers who showed us while we have the tools to make online education possible -- >> if you can tell us the new zoom classroom rules. >> be on time, be on the assignment. >> reporter: there's still no

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before we go, we want to hit you with sports headlines. coy wire joins us now. ko coy, the nba and nfl sharing christmas day? >> yeah, it's a great day in the nba as always on christmas day. lebron and lakers head lining against the mavs and luka doncic. let's get to the highlights. it was the mavs 22nd appearance

on christmas, lebron's 14th. he turns 46 in four days even after that historically short off-season lebron still slays. 22 points against dallas. moving into second on christmas day scoring that's even with superstar luka doncic playing incredible play like this. the lakers, after a loss, nine days of play already getting into the groove beat the mavs by 23 points. finally in a rare christmas day nfl game saints alvin kamara scored six rushing touchdowns, tying the game's most record, that record was set in 1929. kamara sporting all kind of christmas cheer. rocking red and green cleats. he actually broke or tied five nfl team records in that game, boris. heck of a day, first nfl in 11

years and there are actually three games today including the 9-5 against the raiders, boys. playoff hopes alive and well. life is good in the afc with no tom brady. >> that's right, you know it. coy wire. appreciate it. >> thank you for watching. "cnn newsroom" with john avlon starts after a quick break. next. rs from home. creating a coast to coast network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. and putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. that's why we've become the nation's fastest growing retailer. because our customers love it. see for yourself, at carvana.com. resso to help you remembermber commthat liberty mutualgia. customizes your home insurance, here's one that'll really take you back. wow! what'd you get, ryan? it's customized home insurance from liberty mutual!!!

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