-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com after a week of delay, the u.s. president abruptly signs the pandemic e arelief bills. republicans and democrats aren't satisfied, but at least it will bring some help to millions of struggling americans. investigators in tennessee have pieced together who blew up an rv in christmas on downtown nashville. they just don't know why he did it. health officials in europe are scrambling to vaccinate millions of people amid alarm over the coronavirus variant there. we're live in madrid, rome and

london. welcome to all of you watching here in the united states and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber and this is "cnn newsroom." u.s. president donald trump has now signed a much-needed coronavirus relief bill that's set to deliver desperately needed funds to small businesses and millions of struggling americans. but this comes days after mr. trump initially refused to sign the deal, throwing many into financial uncertainty and sparking fears of a government shutdown. jeremy diamond has the details. >> reporter: well, five days after president trump threw billions of dollars of desperately needed coronavirus relief into limbo by suggesting he might not sign a massive piece of legislation passed by congress, the president has now signed that legislation. the president signing that

$2.3 trillion spending billion that includes $900 billion in coronavirus relief on sunday night here in south florida. the president, though, only signing this legislation after unemployment benefits for more than 12 million americans lapsed on saturday night after the president didn't sign the legislation then. and the president's signature also comes after he threw millions of americans into financial uncertainty by delaying signing this piece of legislation. those americans who were counting on those $600 stimulus checks to soon be arriving tharks will now have to wait longer for those stimulus checks. and then of course there were the millions of businesses that were counting on additional ppp funds to come through. now they will be coming through but only after a period of five days of uncertainty here. the president in explaining why he finally signed this legislation, he said this in a statement released by the white house. stop evictions, provide rental

assistance and money for ppp, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution and much more. the senate, he says, will start the process for a vote that increases checks to $2,000, repeals section 230, and starts an investigation into voter fraud. those last two items, it's really not clear what the president is talking about because there isn't stand alone specific legislation to accomplish those goals but there is legislation being advanced on monday that would increase the stimulus checks to $2,000 in accordance with the president's demand. and it appears the president has secured a commitment from mitch mcconnell to bring that legislation to the floor. whether it actually passes though is another matter, given that a number of republicans remain opposed to $2,000 stimulus checks. but regardless this only comes because the president had checked out of governing after the election. for weeks after the election as

these negotiations were underway. and it was only after congress passed this legislation with overwhelming bipartisan majorities, and we should say with endorsement of the treasury secretary steve mnuchin, who was negotiating on the president's behalf, it was only after that legislation passed that the president began to raise his objections. and so all the president accomplished was sinking more americans into financial uncertainty at a time when we have 20-plus-million americans unemployed and all of this, of course, during the holiday season. jeremy diamond, cnn, traveling with the president in west palm beach, florida. congressional leaders applauded the signature, but house speaker nancy pelosi says more action is needed. the democrat says the president must immediately call on congressional republicans to end their obstruction and to support our stand alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $2,000, which will be brought to the floor tomorrow. every republican vote against this bill is a vote to deny the

financial hardship in people's face and deny the american people the relief they need. she says the bill will extend the major lifeline to workers struggling small businesses, renew major relief for americans, invest billions more in vaccine distribution, some cash directly to households and more. the compromised bill is not perfect, but it will do an enormous amount of good for struggling americans. i want to bring in thomas gif, the director of the ucf center for u.s. politic. thanks for coming in. nice to see you i don't again. i want to get your reaction to the chain of events that ended last night. what, if anything, has the president accomplished in all of this beyond sowing chaos? >> well, kim, president trump does look to sow confusion and he does thrive on chaos. taking the country to the brink on the spending bill is consistent with how he's governed throughout the administration. it's possible the president had every intention of signing the bill but he wanted the satisfaction of forcing

congressional democrats and republicans to peer over the precipice for a while. i think this was all about trump not wanting to lose the spotlight, about political retribution, and proving his continued relevance. basically trump waited until the 11th hour to sign this bill because he could and the fact that benefits many americans needed hung in the balance and a government shutdown was looming didn't matter to trump as long as he could capture the news psych. >> back to what nancy pelosi was saying, the house will vote on the expansion of the direct payments and presumably pass to the house. how big of a nightmare is this for senate republicans? >> well, i really think that this proposal is going to be dead on arrival. trump does continue to push for separate legislation that would increase the size of the direct checks to americans from $600 to $2,000. as you suggest, democrats in the house want to support that. but republicans in the senate have shown no interest in

capitulating to that demand. so, i think it's largely political theater at this point. it might make republicans look obstructionist, but, you know, they've been saying from the very outset that they're not willing to go over that $1 trillion mark and they're not being to entertain any proposals that was the direct checks to americans over this $600 figure. >> so, they're willing to further the president and all that puts georgia republican senators loeffler and perdue in a tough spot. support the bill, which the president turned around and called a disgrace. presumably all is well with them now because the president says he's going to come here to georgia for rally on the eve of that vital dual run off which will determine control of the senate. and i want to talk about the amount of money here. one of the candidates, democrat jon ossoff has become the best funded senate candidate of all time.

in total they're setting fundraising records. so, what role do you think money will play in determining these races here? >> well, i think it's natural that so much money is flowing into this race on both sides, partly because it's becoming a national contest. there's just so much at stake here. if you look at what the research says on money in politics, there's a lot of disagreement as to whether funding money actually helps candidates win or those candidates that are already looking like they are going to win are more likely to attract funding. so, i think ultimately money helps on the margin. certainly it's good to have a robust fundraising base because i think it does reflect the fact that there's a lot of enthusiasm. at the same time i think ultimately this will just be about galvanizing the base, ensuring that core supporters both on the political left and right show up. certainly what we know is that this is going to be lower

turnout than the november 3rd presidential election. that means that on the democratic side, the voting bloc is going to be more progressive and more conservative on the republican side. so, ultimately i think this is just about getting the key demographics out. >> yeah, we don't have much time left, but i did want to ask you about president trump's decision to pardon those four blackwater private security contractors convicted of a massacre in baghdad n. 2019 you coauthored a piece following soldiers around this time last year. it's a long and interesting piece. we don't have time to get into it now, but if you kind of explain kwukly what these types of pardons might have on the military and military culture? >> that's a really good question. as you suggested back in 2019, right around november 15th, donald trump pardoned or granted clemency to several u.s. service members who were either convicted or accuse of

committing war crimes. there's big concern within the military that these decisions, essentially granting reprieves for individuals who have committed these atrocities in war, could ultimately lead to a situation where it's more difficult to enforce norms of civilian protectionism, makes it more difficult that the united states military is going to abide by international humanitarian law. so, it's a big issue. and certainly the fact that donald trump has pardoned these blackwater operatives could potentially even pardon additional u.s. service members before he leaves office is a big worry for many both within and outside the military. >> yeah, it's an interesting piece. people are interested in the issue, i suggest you look it up. thomas gift, thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate i. >> i appreciate it, kim, thanks. later this hour we'll get more details about what's in the coronavirus relief bill and we'll talk to someone struggling to make ends meet during the

pandemic. authorities investigating the christmas day bombing in nashville have released new images of the explosion and identified the culprit, but have yet to determine a motive. police released this video on sunday. it shows the street just before and after the rv bomb went off, along with blast that injured three and damaged dodss of building. authorities say the song "downtown" blared from the vehicle before the detonation. authorities describe those terrifying moments. >> 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 to where we're talking now, i just see orange and then i hear a loud boom. and as i'm stumbling, it rocked me down hard. i start stumbling. i just stel myself to stay on your feet, stay alive. >> authorities have identified

the bomber as 63-year-old anthony quinn warner. they believe he carried out the crime alone. >> based on the evidence that we've gathered to this point, we've come to the conclusion that an individual named anthony warner is the bomber, that he was present when the bomb went off and that he perished in the bombing. we base this conclusion on forensic evidence, including dna evidence that you'll hear about as well as evidence that was gathered at the scene of the bombing. >> investigators are poring over warner's home. they're still trying to work out why he did it and doesn't connect the bombing to terrorism. a long-time neighbor of warner's called him a hermit, saying the rv was on his property for years. the rv was parked in front of an at&t network hub and interrupted service. officials say it has been largely restored. he warns that infrastructure is

often a target. >> infrastructure has always been a focus of law enforcement and corporate security. it has been since, prior to september 11th, 2011, when terrorism really hit the united states, there was a boost in the way infrastructure from utility companies to communications systems to switches are maintained and managed, obviously to airports. so, those things have always been considered a target by terrorist groups or just any other group. so, in this case mr. warner. so, those things are always considered to be a target. so, the security has always been very heavy, whether it's cctv, whether it's a hardened infrastructure, all different means to try to protect that. but it will always be a target and it's something that law enforcement and corporate security need to consider. >> the investigation is ongoing, but so far authorities haven't

linked the bombing to domestic terrorism. well, it only took less than a week for the u.s. to add another million new coronavirus cases. more than 19 million americans have been infected, and dr. anthony fauci warns the worst may be still to come. stay with us. say na-na. stop your cough from interrupting, with dq cough and congestion. it's max strength formula coats your throat and provides powerful relief. new dayquil cough and congestion. the maxcoat daytime power through your cough medicine.

the u.s. surpassed 19 million known cases of the coronavirus over the weekend. that's according to data from johns hopkins university. the u.s. has the most cases in the world by far, almost double that of the country with the second most, which is india. and the country's top infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci says things are likely to get even worse, partly because of behavior during the holidays. >> 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 advise 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. >> vaccinations are entering their third week. the latest figures show nearly 2 million americans have already received their first dose. and while there are lags in reporting, it looks like the u.s. will fall short of its original goal to inoculate 20 million people by the end of the year. california is one of the hardest-hit places in the u.s. right now. the state is reporting some of the highest numbers of new daily cases in the country. hospitals are filling up so quickly that in some places, medical surfaces are spilling out into parking lots. as paul vercammen reports, health officials are worried about running out of resources. >> reporter: here in california, the blair of sirening here at huntington hospital in pasadena, 189 patients in the hospital with covid-19. they've even set up surge tents to accommodate other patients with other problems and keep them away from the covid-19

patien patients. in all, 20,000 covid-19 patients in hospitals in california, and something of concern here, if there is a tidal wave of cases after new year's eve, top officials at this hospital say they may have to ration health care. >> indeed it's what we may have to do. that's really the ultimate triage. we have a limited number of ventilators. we have a limited number of icu beds. we have a limited number of plastic tubing for oxygen tanks. so, a lot of those decisions, if we get to that point, we're going to have make those decision. and that's a decision no physician or nurse ever wants to make about somebody. >> they call that practice of deciding who gets what type of k had, they call it a scarce resource policy. now they are just crossing their fingers and hoping that californians pay attention to

smart social distancing and don't get out of control by not wearing masks or by getting together for large gatherings during the new year's holiday. i'm paul vercammen reporting from pasadena. now back to you. dr. kim farley is a profess soort ucla fielding school of public health and is the former director of communicable disease detection in l.a. county. he joins me now from l.a. doctor, thanks so much for being with us. sadly every time we speak, the situation where you are keeps getting worse. so, tell me what you're seeing now. >> thanks, kim, and again, thanks for having me on the program. it's always good to be with you. yes, when we talked before, we talked about there were surges nouch. now i'm actually saying we have a viral tsunami on our hand heres in california and los angeles. >> what do you mean by that? >> well, it just means that we characterize former things like waves or surges and i think just

the magnitude of the amount of disease that we are seeing really needs a better term which i think tsunami probably congers in people's minds. or alternatively we talked before about the idea that i thought -- first we're kind of having a match book and throwing matches into the forest. and occasionally you have a little bit of a flare up in disease n covid, for example, but now we have a raging wild fire occurring here in california. >> those dramatic terms underscore the numbers we're seeing, record upon record falling in terms of cases of hospitalizations, the number of beds that are available are shrinking practically to zero in some cases. how might all of this affect the quality of care for those who actually need treatment? >> yes, well, when you use up your kacapacity of your hospita you have to move to what they call surge procedures or

protocols, which means turning off elective surgeries, it means changing the staffs ratio of patients to nurses. it means maybe moving people out of an icu bed sooner than you might otherwise have done. it means that you may not be able to move someone from your emergency department into your icu bed, which then backs up the emergency department and the ambulances leading to that. so, basically you just begin to compromise the quality of care. and previously, you sometimes handle an overstressed hospital by what we call mutual aid. you would be sending people to other hospitals or you would be asking for additional staff to come and help you. but when you have the situation occurring everywhere at the same time, you lose the ability to have that mutual aid, of others having more capacity coming over to help you. everyone is busy. everyone has turned out all hands on deck. >> i mean, this just emphasizes the paradox of los angeles and

california writ large that despite all of the very strict restrictions, stay-at-home orders and so on, it's leading the country in terms of the cases and everything. and there's some evidence that people are ignoring these orders. we saw survey by the university of southern california there found 30% of people had visited friends or relatives or had them over, which is prohibited. and that's just the people who admitted it. and people i talk to always tell me, oh i'm just getting together with a few people. obviously a few is clearly better than many, but when it comes to, you know, family, people tend to let down their guard. they lower their masks and so on. so, are people underestimating the risk, even of small gatherings, even of getting together with family? >> kim, you're exactly right. i think all of us are surprised about this level of magnitude, of tsunami, as i mentioned. i think that what's happening, we have a mixture of things. we have basically a pandemic

fatigue that has set in where people maybe aren't wearing masks when they should be. they're beginning to try to go out and see friends or have friends over. and i think we have really amplifying events that have occurred with the back to back holiday seasons. we've had halloween followed by thanksgiving followed by now hanukkah and christmas and soon to be new year's eve. so, what's happening is that people are, for example, over the christmas holiday, becoming infected. but then they go out to a party on new year's or have people over to their house on new year's, and that's exactly the time when they will be coming up with virus such that they could then be transmitting to others and they could be an asymptomatic or presymptomatic stage and not even know that they are indeed transmitting to loved ones and family, some who may have pre-existing conditions for whom covid could be a death sentence. >> we'll leave it there.

dr. robert kim farley, we appreciate it as always. >> a pleasure. an independent chinese journalist who documented the outbreak in wuhan early in the pandemic has been sentenced to four years in jail. travelled there in february to report on efforts to contain it just as authorities began reining in state run media from reporting on it. selena, what's the latest? >> reporter: well, kim, this is certainly a concerning development. she had been found guilty of, quote, picking quarrels and provoking troubles. this is used to target journalists and human rights activists. in m soft ovidio we've gathered, you can see a heavy police presence outside of the shanghai court where she was sentenced to four yores in prison. she is a former lawyer who had, in february, travelled to wuhan to report on the pandemic. and for months she documented what life was like under the lockdown and the harsh conditions that its residents

faced, including overflowing hospitals and empty shops. her reports were widely shared on social media until they suddenly stopped in may. and it was later revealed that she was detained. according to her lawyer, she has also been on a hunger strike since june and is actually being force-fed through a nasal tube. amid growing concerns about her health. even though she's the first citizen journalist we know of to be sentenced in her role in reporting on the pandemic, there have been several instances of a number of journalists being disappeared or being detained for the reporting in wuhan. this comes in tandem with china clamping down on media coverage of the pandemic, as well as state media. i want to bring up this quote from a hong kong based group called china human rights defenders, which it approximate it this way, under the guise of

fighting the novel coronavirus, authorities in china have escalated suppression online by blocking independent reporting, information sharing and critical comments on government responses. and according to reporter without borders, china is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world, a tightly controlled press at home and also blocks most foreign media through the great firewall. kim. >> very troubling pattern there. thank you so much selena wang in tokyo. it's been days of drama and uncertainty, but president trump has finally signed the much-needed coronavirus relief bill. a closer look at how it aims to help millions of americans coming up. stay with us. a lotta folks ask me how to get their dishes as clean as possible. i tell them, try cascade platinum plus the power of oxi. it breaks down food soils to clean up to 99% of visible and invisible food residue for a hygienic clean you can see and feel. cascade + the power of oxi.

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♪ and welcome back to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber, and you're watching "cnn newsroom." nearly one week after the covid-19 relief bill was passed by congress, u.s. president donald trump has finally put his signature on it. but because of the delay, millions probably won't get a payment for the last week of the year. the relief bill includes $600 direct stimulus payments for individuals and for those collecting jobless benefits, $300 weekly federal boost through mid-march. joining us to break down the details is john defterios. john, tell us more about what's in the bill and more importantly when can folks expect to get the money? >> well, importantly too, kim, is that most of the drama is over for millions of american who have been on edge. this is a negotiation that's been taking place for the last

four months. kind of surprisingly, the president provided some resistance here in the last four or five days, despite the fact it was his treasury secretary, steve mnuchin, who was sitting at the bargaining table the entire time. there's some key elements here that you talked about here. the unemployment benefits will carry on to the third week of march with an extra $300, so that is very important. there will be a moratorium to protect the renters, who cannot pay their monthly fees. that was supposed to expire on december 31st. that'll carry on at least until january. so, not incredible support. and special dispensation for small business owners and so-called gig workers or part time workers who have been hit hard. you ask how fast can people get these stimulus checks, and that really depends on whether you're registered with the internal revenue service, where americans pay their taxes. if you are registered, you can get, according to the u.s. treasury department, paychecks as early as the next couple of

weeks, very unlikely before the end of the year. also for those who do not qualify or don't have to pay taxes or homeless, this was the challenge with the stimulus package in march, it was proving much more difficult. again, the government says they have worked on tracing people to get those snail mail paychecks out, but that will prove difficult as well. up to two months. we could start seeing relief here in the first week of january with the payments that we're talking about, although there is a debate, as you know, whether it's going to be $600 or they try to boost it up here at the last minute. >> yeah, unlikely. that relief can't come soon enough. the president says he's sending a, quote, redlined version of the bill back to congress, insisting that the funds he doesn't approve of be removed from the spending package. so, what does congress do here, basically just ignore this? >> let's see if we can break this down a little bit, kim, because the president is taking issue with the $1.4 trillion that was out of the emergency

stimulus package because of foreign aid and other special projects that were tacked on by congress. but there are no indications again that even senate republicans in his party are willing to reopen the legislation. mitch mcconnell who a, who is t senate majority leader, said he thanked the president for signing it but didn't talk about reopening anything else. nancy pelosi, the house speaker, is going to tack a vote as early as today to see if they can get the checks up to $2,000. that could put pressure on the senate republicans and also the white house if the legislation is passed because they've been resisting the higher payment, kim. >> thank you for breaking that down for us, john defterios. a dee jay who is currently unemployed joins me from san diego. thanks so much for joining us. i imagined you would be normally superbusy this time of year. give me a sense of how everything has changed with the pandemic and how bad things are right now.

>> yeah, usually in december this is where djs make most of their money. you know, we've got christmas parties. everybody's out. you know, we've got our big new year's gig. so, this is usually the month where we all do pretty well. and, you know, for me personally, i've had no income right now coming in for december. and you know, basically a lot of us have to choose between doing the right thing right now and just staying in and not djing in places that aren't safe. >> yeah, i mean on that i'm sure there are jobs you could have done, gigs you could have taken, but then i imagine, your girlfriend comes home from work at the hospital, where she's a nurse. i mean, that must change your perspective on the risks out there. >> yeah, it's strained some friendships i've had. it's strained business

relationships where there's been pressure to dj certain events. and i'm just not going to do it, man, not going to do it. i need to be safe and make sure i'm not going out there and exposing myself to somebody on the frontlines battling in the hospital every day. so, i need to make the right decisions with that. >> so, to make ends meet you were getting the covid unemployment checks. they ran out this weekend because the president didn't sign the covid relief bill. he's done that now, but it means you and others will miss out on a check or two at least. so, how do you feel now that it's been signed, and how do you feel that the president waiting this long to sign it? >> there's a lot of relief. it kind of feels like being in a -- where your mom and dad are divorced and they're fighting and trying to make each other look bad instead of taking care of the kid. that's what it seems with both sides on this. so, it's nice that it's actually

going through. i know some people's opinion are it's not enough, but for those of us who are running it of money, it's something, you know? it's more than nothing. so, we're really, really happy to be getting that. so, it's really exciting to have some flow come back in for money because, i mean, there's only so much you can dip into your savings and then people are just running out of money. >> and finally, you know, what happens now? eventually the checks will run out. how are you going to make ends meet? are you automobile ble to make ? how are you going to cope going forward? >> yeah, i was working the election. so, that was really fun for me to be a part of that process. but obviously that's over now. so, you know, it's tough to try to find work with where i have to commit to -- you know, i dj for sports teams. i have weddings that will be coming up when the time is right and save. so, it's something i don't want

to switch my profession. i want to stay in this. so, i'm open to work and to do jobs. it's trying to find the right one. i'm trying to find something that makes sense. >> and that's safe. >> yes, absolutely. that's safe. >> well, listen, we wish you test be of luck, and hopefully things will turn around sooner than later. certainly the vaccine will be the game changer. we really appreciate you coming in and talking to us. >> thank you for having me. appreciate it. the european union's launched its covid vaccination program. it's aimed at giving shots to 450 million people in the months to come. stay with us. l night pain. because pain should never get in the way of a restful night's sleep. new zzzquil night pain. silence pain, sleep soundly. a blast of immune support that's more than just vitamin c.

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the mass vaccination program in the european union has begun. the campaign kukicked off sunda days after the approval of the

pfizer-biontech vaccine and has the goal of vaccinating some 450 million people across the block in the months ahead. we have an outstanding group of reporters covering the rollout from all levels. london where the oxford astrazeneca vaccine could get approval within days. in rome italy, the one tricep which was once the epicenter. let's start with al goodman in madrid. on the vaccine, before we get to the good news, first word of a delay. >> that's right, kim. the spanish government announcing in the pre-dawn hours this day that the second batch of vaccines that was supposed to come to spain this monday, there's a delay, sending out saying pfizer spain told the government that the pfizer factory in belgium was having problems loading and shipping

not just to spain but also seven other countries. we're checking on that at cnn. but that vaccine will be here on tuesday, the government says. now, that's after sunday's start of a small number of vaccines across the country, including at this senior care home behind me. we'll be going inside shortly to talk to some people who got the vaccine. but clearly a dose of optimism for this country that, like italy, has been one of the hardest hit countries due to the coronavirus. the johns hopkins university in the united states says spain has the ninth highest number of cases globally and so highest number of deaths. the health minister said that by the end of august, maybe 60% to 70% of the spanish population will be immunized and therefore the hardest part of the crisis could be over. the 96-year-old woman who was the very first to get the vaccine on sunday said she hopes

this vaccine will chase that coronavirus away. kim. >> yeah, well said there. all right, thank you. so, barbie now, when we spoke yesterday, the first shots were being administered in arms there in italy. so, how has the rollout been going? >> it's been going very well. you know, very, very optimistic that things are on target right now. here in italy, the focus is on those frontline workers, health care workers, people in the infectious disease hospitals, people that work in the ambulances that visit people that have symptoms. all of those people are the priority before they get to the elderly population. italy has been so hard hit in this pandemic. you know the number of deaths is the highest in europe, more than 171,000 and people continue to die, more than 200 died yesterday from the coronavirus. it's seen as a very emergency situation here. the vaccine being rolled out is not going to stop the need for social distancing for all these restrictions that we have. you know, we're in the orange

zone now, the whole country is right now. we were in red zone, total lockdown over the holidays. we're going to go back into lockdown for the new year's eve holiday. the authorities are taking it seriously and the vaccine rollout is going well. >> selma, as the uk grapples with this new variant, there may be a new weapon against the coronavirus unleashed there soon, i understand. >> that's right, kim. so, in a matter of days, the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is set to be approved. it could be rolled out as early as january 4th. and of course this is a very big deal for the british government because this is the home grown vaccine. it was developed right here in the uk at oxford university. so, they're very excited about rolling out their own. there's been some controversy about the efficacy of this vaccine. in trials it was found to be 70% in effective in immunizing people from this virus. but researchers and scientists say that they have a winning

formula that might make it more effective. essentially remember how we need two doses, that second dose might be a half dose, and it could potentially raise the efficacy up to 90%, so putting it on par and in competition with the pfizer-biontech vaccine potentially. and it has other advantages. this vaccine is much cheaper, costs about 3 pounds, same as your morning latte, and it's easier to store. you could put it in a normal refrigerator. so, a lot of advantages to this vaccine that will help in the uk's fight against this virus, and it couldn't come at a sooner time. of course right now there is a variant that is of great concern to the uk authorities that is more transmissible. it's common here in london and parts of southeast england. and these parts of the country have been in complete lockdown. so, this is a powerful new weapon, as you said, and something that couldn't come soon enough, kim. >> all right. thank you very much. thank you all for this window on

europe. we appreciate it. well, it's been a painful year for lebanon. >> there is no doubt that the blast has destroyed the hope, the ambition and the energy of many, many people. that was an incredibly violent moment. so, we can't deny that this happened and people will take time to recover. >> we'll head to a beirut that's under reconstruction, and some question whether it's even worth it. next. stay with us. safeguard hand soap with micellar deep cleansing washes away germs and impurities down to the pore. leaving hands hydrated and cleaner than ordinary soaps. safeguard against germs. 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.

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roger federer will miss the first australian open of his career, a tournament he's won six times. organizers on sunday announced he'd withdrawn. he is recovering from two knee surgeries. the first grand slam of the year will begin in early february, delayed by three weeks due to the pandemic. syrian refugees were forced to flee. the fire happened after a violent dispute on saturday night, although no official cause is known. the temporary camp was destroyed

along with the few possessions refugees brought with them. lebanon and syria have offered shelter, with more aid coming from the un. as we reflect back on the biggest moments of 2020, you'll remember the devastating explosion that ripped through the heart of beirut earlier this year. more than 200 lives lost in a city left struggling. ben wedeman has more on how people are trying to move forward. >> beirut is rebuilding again. earthquakes and wars have bashed and battered over the centuries, and then this summer, this. people have always somehow managed to rise from the ashes. the more than 200 lives lost in beirut's port blast, however,

are gone forever. 15-year-old elias died from his wounds two weeks after the explosion. >> translator: we have no future after this young man was killed, his uncle tells me. we're trying to convince his sister to move to canada to stay with her aunt, not to stay here because this country has no future. 2020 started with more antigovernment protests and clashes continuing from the uprising that broke out in october 2019. since then the economy has collapsed and lost 70% of its value. the united nations says 55% of the population now lives below the poverty line, made all the worse by the coronavirus pandemic. after all this, lebanon always a fragile construct appears to be

falling apart. carl is trying to repair his family's building. but with his wife pregnant and lebanon's politicians mired in old squabbles, unable to form a government, they're looking at the exit. >> we're planning on moving, on leaving the country for my child. yeah. no future. yeah, no future. there's no future because we still have the same people that are government, our government. >> mariana cofounded the group for born window to help people repair their homes after the blast. >> we need to think about what do we need to do to save whatever's left of our city, our heart beat, you know? this is the heart beat of the country. it has been destroyed. >> the thousands who protested

in the heart of beirut have disappeared. real change will come, says university professor and activist mona fruez, but first they must heal. >> there is no doubt that the blast has destroyed the hope, the ambition and the energy of many, many people. that was an incredibly violent moment. so, we can't deny that this happened and that people will take time to recover. >> the scars, however, will not go away. ben wedeman, cnn, beirut. and that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber, and i'll be back in just a moment with more news. is now a good time for a flare-up?

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choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪ u.s. president donald trump finally signs the coronavirus stimulus bill after millions of americans were due to lose their unemployment aid. authorities identify the men they say blew up an rv in nashville on christmas day after finding his dna at the scene. and 19 million u.s. coronavirus cases and rising. now, dr. anthony fauci warns a post holiday surge could be on its way. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada and