hello, everyone, thank you so much for joining me. i'm fredricka whitfield. we begin on this final sunday of 2020 with millions set to lose crucial benefits as we enter the new year. president trump's delay in signing a $900 billion relief package passed by congress last monday leaves millions on the brink of crisis. president trump is back at his florida golf club this morning while millions are on the verge of homeless please, the president sharing more false

claims about the election while calling on congress to increase direct stimulus payments to $2,000. he is urged to sign the current bill now and then push for more assistance next week. >> you didn't diddle around with the bill. sign the bill, mr. president, and then immediately monday, tuesday, we can pass a $2,000 direct payment for the working families of this country. >> all this as the pandemic continues to rage on as more than 117,000 americans spend the holiday weekend hospitalized with coronavirus. experts bracing for a post-christmas surge as more than 1 million people boarded airplanes in the u.s. yesterday despite urgent travel warnings against holiday travel. >> we're really at a very critical point. if you put more pressure on the system by what might be a post-seasonal surge because of the traveling and the likely

congregating of people for, you know, the good, warm purposes of being together for the holidays, it's very tough for people to not do that. and yet even though we advised not to, it's going to happen. so, i share the concern of president-elect biden that as we get into the next few weeks it might actually get worse. >> millions are set to lose crucial benefits this weekend as president trump continues to delay the signing of that $900 billion relief deal. cnn's sara westwood joining us from west palm beach. has president trump given us any indication about whether he has read that proposal, whether he will ultimately sign it or even take the recommendation of other members of congress to sign it now and then work on more money later in the week? >> the white house is providing just no clarity on what president trump plans to do here. whether he plans to veto it, whether he plans to sign it

ultimately or wait around for changes to be made to it. all we know is that the president today is golfing, but we don't have a lot of insight into whether he's actually been engaging members on the demands that he's making here. but meanwhile republicans and democrats are practically begging him to put his signature on this legislation that was the product of months of hard negotiations. millions of americans are facing economic uncertainty because this bill is hanging in limbo and because jobless benefits elapsed yesterday. and on thursday millions more americans are facing the prospect of homelessness because that's the expiration date of the moratorium on evictions. this is the bill that the white house negotiated, the amount the $600 for the individual checks is what the white house brought to the negotiating table. and republicans voted for it under the impression that this fully had trump's backing. there's a lot of pressure on trump to sign this bill.

republican senator pat toomey pleaded with trump on fox news this morning, saying he'll leave behind a legacy of hardship if he refuses to sign the bill. >> as he leaves office, he will -- i understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks. but the danger is he'll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire. so i think the best thing to do, as i say, sign this and then make the case for subsequent legislation. >> now, the house is set to vote monday on a measure that would up the amount in the individual checks to $2,000, meeting this demand. senate republicans though still don't seem supportive of that measure. and the reason why the checks weren't bigger in the first place is because there wasn't enough support in the senate to do that. as of this wasn't all complicated enough, if trump doesn't sign the bill by tomorrow night, we are also looking at the prospect of a

government shutdown. because the relief deal was tied to the spending bill that is going to keep the government open, fred. >> all right, lots at stake, sarah westwood, thank you so much. a number of key benefits provided by the c.a.r.e.s. act, which congress passed last march are already expiring or set to expire in a matter of days. an estimated 12 million plus americans just received their last week of unemployment benefits. and without a new measure, that would mean no money here on out. even those who are still receiving benefits would lose one week of additional federal money. and that could be dependent on how much longer the bill is held up. can you explain the benefits that would come if the president were to sign this bill that has been sent to him at mar-a-lago? >> sure. well, last week congress passed an extension of two key pandemic

programs that were very important to millions of americans who were affected by the coronavirus. and also they approved sending 11 weeks of $300 checks to all of those receiving unemployment benefits right now. so, trump hasn't signed the bill yet, which means those two things aren't happening. a you heard, benefits under the two pandemic programs, those folks, the 12 million, are seeing their last payment this weekend. and at this point no one is going to be getting the extra $300 until the president signs the bill. the problem is, is that the states can't start paying that money obviously until the law is official. and so the clock is ticking -- the issue is that these two programs that were extended, one of them was called the pandemic unemployment assistance program. that's the one that extended it to independent contractors, to

the self-employed, to freelancers, to gig workers, all of those folks don't normally qualify for unemployment benefits but they do now. plus we have millions of americans over 3 million americans who are now long-term unemployed. they're unemployed for more than six months. the c.a.r.e.s. act provided an extra number of weeks for them. but that program is also running out. so, under the bill that congress signed, they would each get an extra 11 weeks. >> the other issue here is this looming eviction crisis. some 7 million americans could be homeless very soon in a matter of days. so if nothing is done, what could potentially happen january 1st? >> yeah. the center on budget and priorities said it could even be 9.2 million people who lost employment income during the pandemic are behind on their

rent. so we could have a wave of evictions coming in january. it's going to be a very big problem for a lot of people. >> all right, tami, thank you so much. some pretty dire prospects there. joining me now to discuss is congresswoman representing washington d.c. she also sits on the house oversight committee. good to see you and happy holidays, although it's not very happy for a whole lot of people. >> very same to you. >> so, the government is set to run out of money tomorrow, which, you know, many government workers will likely be put on furlough if president trump does not sign this relief deal. over 140,000 federal workers live in the district of columbia. that makes up about 8% of the toll federal workforce according to a 2017 government analysis. how costly will this be, not just for government working and not working but for individuals if there is indeed a government

shutdown? >> well, this will mark the second government shutdown during the trump administration. and the people who will be hurt most of course are government workers. so, yes, my residents who are disproportionately in the federal government, not to mention this entire region, will be disproportionately hurt, but so will the american people. our workers will keep working. we're not going to stop delivering for the american people. but the unnecessary pain delivered is completely avoidable. we will probably have to do some kind of short-term spending if the president keeps this up and shuts the government down. after all, he is not going to be there after january 3rd. >> so, how would a government shutdown at this particular moment, you know, in the midst of this pandemic in your view impact the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic?

>> yes. we've got to understand that while it affects federal workers, a shutdown means that what we have already done is not going to be delivered because the government is itself not working. and this needless, particularly when you consider that we have already got a package out and that we're talking about a stimulus package, which is so small that it has been labeled an emergency relief package, that that can't even get out with evictions set for this month, small business already on its hind legs, airlines run out of money, the whole country is out-of-pocket. so, we may not -- i hate to

forecast this, but we may not get the relief even this small relief until there is a new administration. >> but that's, what, 24 days still away. in that time a lot can happen, particularly these dire potential consequences of no additional relief money. and when we talk about evictions and people who are worried sick about whether they are going to be put out on the street, whether their things are going to be put out on the street. we're talking about 9.2 million renters who have lost their jobs during this pandemic and behind rent according to the analysis of the census bureau data by the center on budget and policy priorities, what are you envisioning, what are you bracing for to see, particularly in the nation's capitol, you know, in terms of people being put out on the street. there are things being put out to the curb. what are you bracing for? >> i'm not giving up yet, and the house hasn't given up yet. the house is coming back into

session on monday. we're supposed to be out of session this entire week. we're going to try to get this extra money. he wants tripled the amount of money $2,000 rather than $600 and we're going to try to get that for him and keep on trying until he runs out of demands. he could pocket veto this bill. that is by pocket veto, i mean he's already vetoed a defense bill. we can override that. we have the votes we believe to do that. he has not said what he's going to do on the stimulus bill. and one thing he could do is to do nothing. and that would have the effect of vetoing the bill as well. >> as it relates to this pandemic, perhaps, congresswoman, you saw that

powerful facebook post video of dr. susan moore documenting what she said was the dismissal of her covid-related pain, leaving her to feel less than valued as a black woman and a doctor herself. take a listen to what she posted. >> i put forth and i maintained. i was in so much pain from my neck. my neck hurt so bad. i was crushed. he made me feel like i was a drug addict. and he knew i was a physician. >> she posted that and then she died. she died last weekend. hopefully, congresswoman, you're still with me. so this really is another page in the litany of experiences of this kind of structural and systemic racism, how did this hit you and what could be done? >> well, she didn't start out to

be a spokesperson for the racism that is being felt. i hope you can hear me even if you can't see me. >> i can. >> the racism that is being felt in our health care system, if we were to say who is the best spokesperson for that? a black woman doctor, graduate of the university of michigan medical school, goes in with covid and finds herself ignored or otherwise disparaged, leaves the hospital, has to come back again and dies. this is not the way we wanted to make the country understand what happens when african-americans are in the health care system.

but her death will be a memorial, and hopefully we'll signal reforms. we already see the hospital saying it's doing what is the least it could do, which is an investigation on what happened to her. so we hope this will encourage reform just like we are seeing reform throughout the country on matters affecting african-americans. >> your hope is that this will help inspire a type of reckoning, race reckoning in medicine, as did george floyd did to make this nation pay attention. >> precisely. . all right. thank you so much, i appreciate your time. thank you and happy new year. >> my pleasure. still ahead, coronavirus cases surge across the country. hospitals overwhelmed. and california may have the worst of it. we're there live. plus, president trump waffling over the relief for

americans is having a direct impact on georgia's u.s. senate runoff races. how one candidate's campaign ad is now falling flat. and dealing with a yearlong pandemic and a christmas day explosion. i'll speak to a business owner who may have to shut down for good. dust mite droppings? ewww. dead skin cells? gross! so now, i grab my swiffer heavy duty sweeper and dusters. dusters extends to 6 feet to reach way up high... to grab, trap and lock away gross dust. nice! for dust on my floors, i switch to sweeper. the heavy duty cloths reach deep in grooves to grab, trap and lock dust bunnies... no matter where they hide. no more heebie jeebies. phhhhew. glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering.

all right. this break news now in the investigation into the christmas day bombing in nashville, tennessee. authorities say they believe the blast was likely the result of a suicide bombing, and now we are hearing from nashville's mayor about a possible connection to the at&t building that was badly damaged in the blast. cnn's shimon prokupecz is in nashville for us. so what more are you learning? >> reporter: yeah. that is one of the motives that law enforcement here, the fbi, and other agencies here are looking at with the atf is whether or not the at&t building was the target by this individual. as you said in what officials

here suspect was a suicide bombing. and for the first time publicly we heard the mayor respond this morning on cbs as to a possible motive. and here's what he said. >> those of us in nashville realize that on second avenue there is a big at&t facility. and the truck was parked adjacent to this large historic at&t facility, which happens to be in downtown nashville, somewhat surprisingly. and to all of us locally, it feels like there has to be some connection with the at&t facility and the site of the bombing. >> reporter: and that is one of the motives whether or not the at&t building was targeted is something that the fbi is looking at. but there are also other motives perhaps. i've been talking to sources here on the ground and they all say basically they don't have a clear-cut motive yet. it's something that they're still looking for. it could be several things. so they need to look at

everything and then perhaps put something together to try and figure out what happened here. just a couple of notes on the fbi. they continue to be on scene here with the atf going through the debris, the blast site just several blocks behind me. one of the this mornings that's been hindering them today is the wind. debris has been flying around. so they've been slowed by the weather. but they're continuing to work to try and piece all of this together. and their hope -- they hope they can clear out the scene in a couple of days. >> and then, shimon, we're also hearing today from some of the officers who were on the scene. we heard the police chief so eloquently put yesterday that so many went right for the danger. and when they heard that recording, they immediately went into action and really saved a lot of lives potentially. >> reporter: yeah. when you look at the blast site, when you look at the damage and the force of this explosion, it was enormous.

buildings that have come down have crumbled down because of the explosion. the cars melted, the paint melted off so many of these cars because of the heat and the size of this explosion. and these six officers who arrived on scene and started just evacuating, getting people out of their homes, telling them to leave, acting quickly because within about 30 or so minutes of the police arriving, this explosion occurred. and for the first time we're hearing from some of those officers today, and here's what they said. >> as i turn around, for me it felt like i only took three steps, and then the music stopped. and as i'm walking back now, i just see orange, and then i hear a loud boom. and as i'm stumbling, it rocked me that hard, i just told myself to stay on your feet, stay

alive. >> reporter: it's those heroic moments that the mayor here, the fbi, the atf everyone here who's been on scene since this happened has said has saved so many lives. and when you think about this, we keep talking about these bizarre scenarios playing out, this rv, this music playing from the rv, this warning people to evacuate and for the officers to react as quickly as they did, certainly really what was really a scary situation for everyone to be able to get everyone out so quickly certainly saved a lot of lives. >> right. really remarkable because, remember, they were responding to the reports of gun fire, and only once they got to that location did they end up hearing that recording, and then immediately kicking into action pretty heroic stuff indeed. shimon prokupecz in nashville, thank you so much. so, as the investigation and cleanup continue, new video has emerged showing the force of that blast from inside a restaurant.

all right. that's actually a video of the investigators who descended on a property outside of nashville collecting evidence as it relates to that rv. nashville's mayor, meantime, says parts of the downtown area that are now closed off should be reopened by later on today. but for some other businesses, there is a long road ahead. in fact, now here's the video caught inside that restaurant which got the moment of that blast. let's watch it one more time. >> all right. you can see the force of that blast. carla rosenthal is the owner of the melting pot where that video was taken and the rodizio grill which was also damaged in the explosion. so good to see you, and i hope that you're able to tell us that everyone is okay. >> yes, everyone is safe. this took place at 6:15 in the

morning on christmas morning. it was our one day to be closed and let our families enjoy a day off and pure joy. and it did not go that way at all. but we are very fortunate that no one was physically hurt. however, that's not to say that there aren't hundreds of people hurt by this. just in our two businesses alone. right. and as it relates to businesses including yours, it means a lot of people are unable to get back to business and get an income and go on with their lives. this has been a huge gigantic disruption. so then give me an idea of what you're hearing about how you are able to pick up the pieces, go inspect. how do you assure your employees, you know, that they will be able to have jobs again? what's going on? >> well, that is the big unknown for us right now. we were just downtown, and we

were told that where our businesses are located, where that footage that you showed was, we were the epicenter of the blast directly that rv was parked directly in front of our two restaurants. and that our building is not structurally sound so they will not let us in at this point in time. we know that we watched our security cameras that day for hours and hours and just watched the building filled with water on top of the damage from the explosion. so, we don't foresee any time soon that we'll be back in there. as far as our staff goes, right now we were fortunate enough to have some of our other franchise businesses for both the melting pot and rodizio grill that were thoughtful enough that they put together gofundme pages. and right now our focus is on

our melting pot and rodizio grill families and trying to help to supplement their losses, too. this money does not go to owners. this money is for our staff, our employees. some of whom have worked for us for ten plus years. melting po the has been there for 26 years. rodizio grill for eight. and we have a lot of people that we're trying to look out for while we figure out what our next steps forward will be. >> and already this is on the heels of the covid crisis, which i'm sure made a gigantic impact on you being able to conduct business. you're trying to rebound from that. now will your insurance help you considerably to assist your employees, or is it the relief, you know, the federal disaster relief that the governor says he's hoping to get as a result of this blast? might that be supplemental?

might that help you? >> well, we certainly hope so. that is information we're trying to obtain right now. it is way too early for us to learn anything about insurance or federal assistance. like i said, the fbi just made it very clear to us that we cannot go back into that space. therefore no insurance adjustor can get into that space. so, a lot of those questions are yet to be determined. and right now we're just dealing with what we do know and trying to help our staff to put food on their tables and hopefully communicate with some other restaurants and businesses that may be hiring, like you said, with covid, nashville is only at 50%. we have been doing okay.

our restaurants were very large physical spaces cityblock long. so therefore we could handle the spacing of our guests and still do some business. some others have not been that fortunate. but right now we are just in a wait-and-see pattern. >> and just for our viewers, you were seeing some video earlier of a property in antioch, tennessee. and you saw the rv. these are images that were taken last year of that rv that was outside of the business is what investigators believe and how eyewitnesses, neighbors, had seen that same what appeared to be that same rv parked outside that residence in antioch last year. the correlation here now for you, carla, that that rv, that explosion took place right outside of your business. we are wishing you the best. i hope that you and all of your

employees and your entire, you know, melting pot family will be able to get the kind of assistance that you need and pick up the pieces from here. carla rosenthal, thank you so much for being with us. i appreciate it. and we'll be right back. ls, food delivery, and especially car dealers all charge excessive, last-minute fees. when you want something badly enough, it feels like your only choice is to pay up. but what if you had a choice to take a stand instead? at carvana, we believe in treating you better. with zero hidden fees, you can drive off without feeling ripped off. that's what it means to live feelessly.

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the we have to find just nosomething else.it. good luck! what does that mean? we are doomed. [laughter] that's it. i figured it out! we're going to give togetherness. that sounds dumb. we're going to take all those family moments and package them. hmm. [laughing] that works. the u.s. just reached a terrible milestone.

more than 19 million cases of covid-19 have been reported. add that to december, being the deadliest month in the u.s. since the coronavirus began. more than 63,000 americans lost their lives to the virus in the past 26 days. in comparison, the entire month of november saw more than 36,000 deaths. health experts warn projections for january are nightmarish. those projections made worse by millions of americans traveling and spreading the virus during the christmas holiday. the tsa reporting more than a million people traveled through airports saturday, the day after christmas. in california not only is the state now reporting the highest number of new daily coronavirus cases per capita in the country. hospitals are so full, medical services are spilling out into the parking lots. paul, what are you seeing there?

>> reporter: the numbers astound you by the minute. we have just learned that here at huntington hospital in pasadena where they have one of those surge tents to accommodate many of these patients, they have gone up from 177 to 189 covid patients. so on the front lines right now exhausted doctors and nurses are fighting this. i'm going to bring in infectious disease specialist dr. kimberly shiner. how are your employees holding up when all of a sudden 12 more covid patients show up? >> well, it is this moment of dread that we're trying to kind of deal with. and i think that at this stage of the game they just plow on. we've been doing this for ten months. we anticipated that the winter would be tough. we didn't think it would be this tough. we thought maybe the message would get to people, but apparently that hasn't happened. and so it's just one thing after another. the nurses are working extra shifts. they're spreading out a little bit thinner.

we have nurses that normally take care of one or two patients in intensive care units are now taking care of three or four. we've expanded our intensive care unit capacity for covid. we are at about 2 or 300% in our icus. the covid wards also are sort of expanding throughout the hospital. and right now we're managing, but we're kind of hanging on by our fingernails. >> what words would you assign to the nurses and doctors? >> courageous. exhausted. they are highly experienced now. we know what the best interventions are to try to help and save people, but people still die it. >> affects people that have weakened immune systems. but it also affects people that appear to be normal and healthy. this is a very, very dangerous virus. >> and there's a cautionary tale here that you hear every day from people in your covid unit. and they say to you what? >> i wish i hadn't gone to that

party. i wish i haven't gone to visit my relatives because now two of them are in the hospital. we have had many families in our hospital, some of whom never left the hospital. and so i think it's really important that the virus doesn't care if it's your uncle or your brother or your son or your aunt, it just wants to go to somebody who hasn't had the disease. >> we super appreciate your taking time out for us live. best to you and your nurses. and i know you're anxiously hoping that everyone behaves on new year's eve and doesn't cluster up and have gatherings. >> exactly. >> this is an ongoing all out war on covid-19 that goes on in this hospital in pasadena, california. this is being played out throughout the state. >> it is sobering. it's frightening. paul, thank you so much. i want to discuss the situation in california and the pandemic in general with the chief medical officer harvard ucla medical center. doctor, good to see you.

so, how bad is it when you've got this situation where people have to be treated in the hospital parking lot? >> it is horrible. we are facing something we've never thought we would face. we have so many patients coming in with covid that as you just heard, like every hospital in the region, we are putting patients in wards and locations that we shouldn't have to put patients, simply because they just keep coming in. our staff are exhausted, and they're doing the best they can. but as covid spreads through the community, it also spreads to our staff. we have many staff that are out sick with covid and stress-related conditions as well. >> so, dr. mahajan, who do you make the decision on who is treated in the parking lots? is it the most recent who have come in? how do you make the decisions?

>> well, in our public hospitals here in l.a., we are fortunate that we haven't yet had to do something like that. we are treating icu patients in surgical wards, in ers and other locations within the building. but what we do is we do the very best we can. we are providing the best care we can wherever we can as patients come in. that's how it's done. >> this new variant of the coronavirus sent the uk back into lockdown, and the u.s. now imposing travel restrictions. cnn's dana bash asked dr. fauci if the u.s. acted too late. listen to his response. you know, dana, i'm not going to say it was a mistake or not. obviously i think the move to put some form of restriction on travel and restriction could either be blocking out travel completely, which the decision was made not to do that. but i think it's prudent and a good idea to do some form of testing and not let somebody on the plane from the uk unless

they have a documented negative covid-19 test. so i agree with that. you could argue about the timing, whether it should've been done a few days before. >> do you agree with that? >> well, this new variant is very concerning. what we do know, as dr. fauci has explained and others, that it does transmit more easily. and so we have to do what we can to prevent the transmission of all covid strains including this one. any measures to reduce that transmission are welcome from us here in the health care system where we are doing our best to take care of patients getting sick. >> thank you so much, and thanks for all that you and your colleagues are doing, doctor, i appreciate it. >> thank you. early voting is underway in georgia's u.s. senate runoff election. up next, why president trump's inaction on the covid relief bill is putting the state's republican incumbents in a major bind. some hot cocoa?

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a week from tuesday, voters in georgia will decide which party controls the u.s. senate. and president trump's failure to sign the $900 billion covid relief bill is putting republican incumbents kelly loeffler and david perdue in a rather tough bind. they have been running as trump loyalists, but they also wanted to run on delivering that relief money. check out this ad from david perdue's campaign.

>> senator perdue never gave up. perdue again delivered real, meaningful help for georgians. 900 billion in new covid relief, direct checks to georgians, critical distribution for vaccines and help for folks out of work. ossoff obstructed. perdue delivered. >> ryan nobles is following these runoffs from washington. so, ryan, you know, do we have any indication of how these gop candidates now will try to play their hand? >> in many ways it seems as though the republicans in this race are just ignoring the fact that president trump has yet to sign this legislation into law, despite the fact that both of them, kelly loeffler and david perdue bragged about the fact that they passed it into law. david perdue was up with ads the following morning claiming that he had delivered this relief. but unfortunately it just hasn't come through yet. it really puts these republicans

in a tight spot. because, on the one hand they don't want to be critical of president trump. in fact, both of them have gone out of their way not to be critical of president trump. but at the same time they want to claim that they've done something to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. so essentially david perdue has gone awol. he hasn't had a public event since before christmas. his office has not responded to any requests from us as to how he feels about president trump not signing that bill into law. kelly loeffler said she was open to the idea of $2,000 checks but said that she wanted to see some offsets in the bill, some spending cuts in other places, but at this point both of them have refused to criticize president trump in his role in all of this. >> what about warnock, jon ossoff, how are they responding? >> they are not going to let the republicans off the hook. they put a lot of pressure on them to say where they stand.

jon ossoff even before the bill was initially passed before president trump said he wanted more and said that $600 was a joke, he immediately backed president trump in his plan to add more money in direct payments. and jon ossoff even took it a step further yesterday by sending a letter to television stations in atlanta telling them that they should take that ad off the air because it's factually untrue, that that aid has not been delivered even though perdue claims it has. now that is somewhat of a political stunt. these tv stations don't have a lot of say as to what they can and cannot put on the air because of fec laws. but still it shows how these republicans are in a tight spot. they want to offer the voters of georgia one thing. but it seems like turn after turn, time after time, president trump continues to get in the way. >> ryan nobles in washington, thanks so much for that. an iconic jewish deli in chicago is struggling to keep its doors open because of the pandemic. coming up, see how customers are determined to epdo the food,

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congress passed a hinds billion relief bill just before the holidays, but prumpt still hasn't signed it into law. economic relief for millions hangs in the balance. adrienne broaddus spoke to one

of those americans who are trying to save this iconic restaurant. >> reporter: if history is a teacher -- >> there was my grandfather and my dad. >> reporter: the owner of manny's deli has learned the only constant is changed. the iconic jewish deli was started before the u.s. entered world war ii. >> i'm dan raskin we've been in business for 79 years. >> reporter: manny's. >> old traditional delicatessen you can't find in many cities in the world. >> for 44 years has been the place where i go to clog my arteries and clear my head. >> reporter: manny's closing its doors for a 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

and we're losing enough of them. >> reporter: inside the waltz hod history. >> i think my favorite memory was when president obama came in. >> reporter: his first public stop after being elected was at manny's. >> he wanted a correspond beef sandwich and cherry pie. >> best correspond beef you'll find, sliced by the best correspond beef man behind the counter, gino. >> reporter: the kitchen is 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 son 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 downtown, there's not a lot of people working in the city. this is just manny checking out 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. >> the riots in the '60s. >> reporter: that was following the assassination of martin luther king, jr.. it forced the company to pivot. hi father shared story about cutting hours. >> they decided to close because it wasn't safe and there were curfews. >> reporter: fast forward to 2020. >> it was heartbreaking. >> reporter: unrest following the police killing of george floyd, forced manny's to adapt again. >> the last eight months, when you look back at all the events, it's not just covid, but the rioting, the -- everything just compiles on top of each other

and just have to survive it. >> reporter: survival is in dan's dna. he found a way to keep business going by delivering to chicago's suburbs, a model involving more labor to pack everything up and go. it costs more, but 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. with days to go before the expiration of the eviction moratorium, beyonce is now stepping in to do what the president apparently won't -- helping to reach out to struggling americans who are desperate to save their homes. beyonce will offer 100 people

grants of $5,000 each if they're facing foreclosures or evictions because of the pandemic. an estimated 9.2 million people are behind on rent in america. once the eviction moratorium is lifted, many renters will have to pay back rent on january 1st. applications can be made to beyonce starting january the 7th, via beyonce's b-good impact fund. we're following breaking news in nashville. coming up, we are live with details on why the mayor believes the bombing could have something to do with the location of the at&t building. when it comes to autism,

finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org

>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. hello, again, everyone. thank you for joining us. we're beginning in nashville about the investigation of an explosion on christmas morning. shim is not, you have new reporting on a person of interest? >> reporter: right. this is the first time the police have publicly addressed a possible person of interest. the please chief here telling our colleague natasha chen that anthony quinn western are werner, 63, is a person of interest. sources that i have talked to have said that they believe it's