it's a new year. but coronavirus is still out of control here, in the united states, and in many parts of the world. and vaccines are not being administered nearly fast enough. also, a legislative blow to donald trump in the waning days of his presidency. >> hello, and welcome to our viewers here, in the united states, and right around the world. i'm paula newton, and this is cnn "newsroom." yes, i know.

we were all hoping 2021 might be a bit different. but in many respects, 2020 isn't going anywhere. and as much as we'd like to say the new year is a new beginning, the disturbing trends in numbers are, unfortunately, inescapable. especially, right here, in the united states. now, one, grim figure, after another, reported on new year's day. the nation surpassing 20 million cases. more than 100,000 hospitalizations reported, for the 31st-straight day. several states, breaking records for new cases and deaths. and while the vaccines offer hope, both, hopefully, taming a pandemic that seems to be out of control. actually, getting those doses into the arms of americans has run into problems. the trump administration wanted 20 million people vaccinated, by january 1st. but the cdc reports just under 3 million have actually gotten the shot. cnn's nick watt has more details, now, about the state of

the pandemic as the new year begins. >> reporter: from wuhan, where all this began, to new york. not much fondness in the farewell to a terrible year. >> and 2020 is gone. it's done. >> and 2020 is freakin' gone. >> reporter: 2020 was tough but -- >> we are still going to have our toughest and darkest days. >> reporter: an l.a. county official says hospitals are, quote, on the brink of catastrophe. >> like, treading water from 100 feet below the surface. you are already drowning but you just have to keep drowning because that's what you can do. >> reporter: in at lanta, a fied hospital reopens for business at the orworld congress center. meanwhile. >> in many parts of georgia, both the north and the south, there is vaccine available, and literally sitting in -- in freezers. that's unacceptable. we have -- we have lives to save. >> reporter: they're just not getting the hoped-for uptake

from medical workers. in west virginia, 42 people were given antibodies, not the vaccine, by mistake. in wisconsin, a pharmacist now in custody, after destroying 500 doses. taking them out of refrigeration. the administration projected 20 million would have had vaccine dose number one, by now. the reality? not even 2.8 million reported. >> states and localities need resources. they need funding. i expected that we would see bumps in the road. but i didn't expect that we would see this lack of consistency, across the states. >> reporter: and that new, faster-spreading coronavirus variant, now detected in colorado, california, and maybe florida. >> i think we have to assume that this strain has been in the u.s., for a long time. >> reporter: december, by the numbers, was the worst month of the pandemic. the most confirmed cases. the most deaths. 10,000 lives lost, in the last three days, alone. >> we do have these vaccines. we just need to hunker down, and

get there. >> reporter: in 2020, 345,737 people confirmed killed by covid-19, in america. in 2021, how many more? >> and here, in california, a grim start to 2021. a record-death toll reported, new year's day. 585 lives lost, beating the previous record, which was set on new year's eve. nick watt, cnn, los angeles. turkey is the latest country to shut its borders to travelers from the uk. turkey's health minister says the country found 15 cases of the coronavirus variant, that nick was just talking about there, and it's been spreading rapidly, of course, through britain already. the uk-coronavirus variant has now been confirmed in at least 30 countries, hong kong, and taiwan. many of those countries have now banned travel from the uk. the uk is now adding a new

coronavirus vaccine to its arsenal. starting monday, the country will be ready to administer the first doses of the oxford university/astrazeneca vaccine. salma abdelaziz joins me, now, from london. you know, that's good news, of course. and yet, the uk now has, through this latest wave, confusion about a couple of issues. one is the vaccine, about the doses, right? and that leads into the other piece of the confusion, more restrictions with, you know, how fatigued is the public right now about what was just announced now about elementary schools? >> these are very dark and depressing times here, paula, and by many accounts, worst than the first wave. i just want to run you through the latest numbers here. you have the number of patients that have gone to hospital with coronavirus in the last seven days. that number has increased by 19%. the people who have tested positive for coronavirus, in the last week, that's increased by 30%. you have hospitals that say they

are overstretched. they are at the limit. you have an ambulance service that says they are receiving thousands of calls a day. almost as many as during the first wave. and you have this new variant, crucially, paula, this new variant has many people extremely concerned because it is more transmissible. and imperial college london just came out with a new study, and i want to share a little bit of it with you because i think it clarifies some things. in this study, they say the november lockdown, that variant of covid-19 that is more transmissible, tripled. tripled. whereas, the other, more regular covid, for lack of a better term, decreased by a third. so now, you have this new variant, quite common, here in london and southeast england. spreading through the population. three-quarters of the country now in lockdown. but scientists and experts say that's not enough. the entire country needs to shut down. and doctors warning the worst is yet to come. that this is going to be a nail-biting month because celebrations during christmas and new year's eve.

well, the spike from that has yet to hit the hospitals. so, the concern is that there is more coming and, yes, now, you can understand, in the context of all this, why the uk government might be looking at doing one dose, instead of two doses, of that vaccine. because the country's chief-medical officers say that, by doing that one dose first, that one injection first, and then waiting up to three months for the second injection. that means you can vaccinate more people. as many as double, more people, essentially. and that means, those people, because according to these medical officers, again, those people will not get seriously ill. they will not end up in hospital. so, you are taking this thin resource, the vaccine, and spreading it out over a greater portion of the population. and hopefully, paula, keeping people out of hospitals. that's the idea. >> yeah, absolutely, that is key. and you can understand why they have this new variant being so widespread and transmissible, that the uk is saying, look. the younger kids, the elementary-school kids will stay out of school, for now. salma abdelaziz, live, for us from london. thank you.

a senior-infection prevention epidemiologist joins me now from tucson, arizona. you know, just when you think you've understood this virus, it tends to, all of a sudden, get so much more complicated. you know that. we should now know that, as well. in terms of these variants, dealing, very specifically, with the uk variant and the south african variant, which most experts say, these are likely pervasive right now, in certain countries. do you agree with that? and why has this happened? >> i do agree with that. you know, we have identified the uk strain. i think that's -- or the variant, i should say -- that's really the one that's been causing the most concern. but realistically, it's very likely since these were in the community since september, that we are going to be seeing these across multiple countries. i think we are at 33 right now, that have seen the variant that was first identified in the uk. but realistically, it's a respiratory virus. so that means, where people are, it could be transmitted. and we are seeing that this is likely, you know, the uk

variant, more transmissible. meaning, it's more adept and more efficient at transmission being spread between people. but the it's not causing more severe disease, as we are seeing right now. so, that means all of our efforts to stay home, wear a mask, wash our hands, you know, avoid crowded, indoor environments, and cleaning and disinfection are still effective. so, i think the hard part is viruses do mutate, but really getting a handle on these variants, which really reinforces why we need to be doing more genomic surveillance. >> yeah. and certainly, finding these variants, as you said, is critically important. had we known, perhaps, though, i'm wondering the willingness of the public to really do something about it. i mean, look. this is new year's eve and new year's day. i have seen people out in restaurants without masks on. it is still happening. explain why, perhaps, what we even did three months ago is not safe to do, any longer, if this variant is more transmissible.

>> i think the hard part is that, sometimes, we become a bit lax, especially with the news of a vaccine. people get very optimistic, which they should be. but the truth is we might be having new variants, in the community, at any given time. and they might be more transmissible, like the one that we are seeing right now. so, it's just another reminder of why we have to be so vigilant with this. because even if we find out three months from now, as you mentioned, that we have a new one in circulation, it just is a good reminder of our continued efforts to wear a mask and stay home and all of those infection-control measures. so, i think the hard part is as we get good news of vaccines, we are still combatting a really high surge in the united states and across the world. and the effort we put in three, four, six months ago even, you know, we still need to be really, really investing in them. >> but i guess, the point is do we have to go further? conventional wisdom, especially if i am socially distant from you, outside is okay. do you think, even that needs to be looked at? like, maybe, you shouldn't be

sitting on a park bench with your friend, maskless, if this is more transmissible? >> i think, the hard part is we are not seeing an impact to the route of transmission. we're still learning about what that looks like, on a viral level. but the truth is that we really struggled with communication about that risk reduction being additive. so, you mentioned the park bench and the messaging really should have been from the beginning, if you are interacting with people from outside of your household bubble, even outside, you still need to be wearing a mask within six feet. so, the community really just needs to embrace them. because sometimes, we see people masked but, you know, they are in close proximity with a bunch of others. or in restaurants, you know, where tables are six feet apart. but again, they are indoors and unmasked. so, really just reinforces why we need to do these things. >> right. such a good point that you are making there. that everyone should really heed. before i let you go, this issue of the one dose, versus the two doses.

and now, it seems that u.s. -- u.s. officials, perhaps, are doing something completely different from what the uk. the uk is saying, look, even though the british-medical association has said they think it's unfair, that they are going to try and give as many people as possible, one dose. it seems the cdc won't be recommending that. what do you think? that would be sound medical advice, at this point? >> well, there has been discussion with oxford-astrazeneca that it could be efficacious, if given more time between the first and second doses. but we don't have the data to support that for pfizer or moderna. in fact, pfizer came out and said there is no data to say how efficacious this will be, if the second dose is given more than 21 days after the first. so right now, we are struggling in the u.s. with our vaccine distribution. you know, the goal was 20 million by the end of december, and we barely hit 2.8. so, i think, instead of trying to potentially go down a route where we don't really have data

to support doing one dose, and then a second dose months later. we should really be focused on providing resources for adequate vaccine distribution. >> sounds like sound advice, to me. gosh. didn't want to open 2021 this way. but, there you go. at least we've got those vaccines. thanks so much. appreciate it. >> thank you you. >> we have never seen it until now. republican lawmakers vote against president trump to pass the defense bill. just ahead, the president's heated reaction. plus, tensions are rising between iran and the u.s., ahead of the anniversary of qassem soleimani's assassination. the latest on that, after the break. cosentyx connect is here to help. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions

may occur. call us or visit us online. we're here for you.

and it responds to snoring-automatically. so no more nudging your partner. or opting for the couch.

because the tempur-ergo smart base is our first system that detects snoring and automatically adjusts to help reduce it. your best sleep. all night. every night. now is the perfect time to experience the mattress ranked #1 in customer satisfaction by jd power two years in a row. learn more at tempurpedic.com

on friday, the republican-controlled u.s. senate voted, overwhelmingly, to override president trump's veto of a sweeping-defense bill. now, it was the first, successful veto override of his presidency. the bill includes pay raises for troops, and funding for equipment upgrades. it does not, though, repeal section 230, which gives internet providers and others some protections regarding how they manage their content. after the vote, the president tweeted our republican senate just missed the opportunity to get rid of section 230, which

gives unlimited power to big-tech companies. pathetic. also, friday. a federal judge tossed out another, last-ditch effort to overturn the u.s. presidential election. now, texas congressman, louie gohmert, and other republican lawmakers filed suit hoping to really force the vice president mike pence, to ignore some electoral votes when congress meets next week to certify the election. the judge said the republicans lacked standing to sue. that, though, is now being appealed. kaitlan collins has more from the white house. >> reporter: president trump skipped his annual new year's eve party at mar-a-lago, and come back to washington early. though, the white house never publicly explained exactly why the president was doing that. many sources believed it was ahead of that showdown that's expected on capitol hill, next week, when the house and the senate do meet to certify joe biden's win as the next president of the united states. something that we know the outcome will not be any different. but how we get there might, given that several of the president's republican allies

are preparing to dispute that. but, of course, as that is coming, the president is, also, looking to his vice president, mike pence, and what his role is going to be in that. because typically, it's just procedural, ceremonial, largely. but, of course, now the vice president has found himself at odds with some of the president's allies. including, congressman louie gohmert, who filed that lawsuit against the vice president, that many thought was frivolous and not going to go anywhere because it was basically arguing pence had the authority to change the votes, which he does not. so, we are still waiting for the president, himself, to weigh in on that. we did not see him on new year's day. but, of course, what happened on capitol hill was that massive rebuke coming from senate republicans during his final days in office, as they voted to override the veto that he administered of that defense bill. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. >> daniel strauss is a senior-political reporter for the guardian, and he joins me now from washington. good to see you, daniel, and

happy new year. and what a cliffhanger, we are going to start the week with in congress. january 6th. donald trump has said mark it on your calendar. it is a bit of a republican insurgency, now that he seems to have some backing. but in the end, do you think it will be sound and fury, signifying, essentially, nothing? >> don't expect this effort to actually be successful. but it's really serving as more of a litmus test for rank-and-file republicans and elected-republican officials, to how loyal they are to donald trump and donald trump's wishes. the president wants some resistance to joe biden's certification as president. and he thinks that any republicans who are resistant to that are disloyal to him. and in particular, senator josh hawley of missouri. the -- the -- the lone senator in the chamber, who is going to object to the certification, as some kind of staunch ally. there are a handful of members,

in the house, who are making a similar move. but, again, there, too, the -- the -- the effort is unlikely to be successful. >> and yet, still, they're going to go through with it, though. want to prove a point? >> yeah, this is about proving a point. and for someone like hawley, i want to emphasize here. he's been mentioned as a possible 2024 presidential candidate. and what's tricky there is that anyone who is gearing up to run for 2024 could be seen as dis -- again, disloyal or against donald trump, who hasn't conceded the election. and is, very much, intending on floating running for president, again. so, this way, hawley can, i guess, cement his credentials as someone who is loyal to trump and trumpism. but at the same time, also, not really killing chances of running for president in the next election. >> right. well, it's been a good way to get his name in the headlines,

if nothing else. so, i want to turn to georgia. i walk past a couple of long voter lineups, myself. early voting, advanced polls are through the roof. what is the takeaway from this? no matter which way it goes because let's face it. no matter who wins, democrats or republicans, it will be consequential in the senate. but also, again, it's going to be very close. it shows how divided the country still remains. >> yeah. and, look, the outcome of this isn't really going to heal that, at all. we are looking at a razor-thin majority, one way or another, in the senate. which means that everyone is going to control the destiny of any piece of legislation. there won't be one party who can easily move it toward the chamber. and what we saw in the last election is, outside of the presidential race, republicans in competitive states can win elections. they can win statewide. that's contrary to what polls were -- were projecting, going into election night, in 2020. and so, here, too, even though

record turnout is -- is -- is happening right now. and we are seeing high levels of enthusiasm among democrats. there is, also, a high level of enthusiasm among republicans. and so, i don't think we're going to see any -- any of that dissipate, in the coming months. >> yeah. and a reminder that, both president-elect joe biden and donald trump will be here, in the next few days, campaigning. you wrote a really interesting article on the relationship between biden and mitch mcconnell. of course, senate majority leader. the fact they've known each other for more than 35 years. but you are saying, look. they may have had a good-working relationship. but you are saying that may not happen, now. why -- why do you say that? >> i mean, because the positions that they're in. for most of the time that they've built this repertoire of sort of tacet friendliness and collegiality, which is pretty rare between a sitting vice president, a committee chair in the senate, and mitch mcconnell, who rose from the ranks from

nrsc chair. now, their positions are directly antagonistic to each other. this is the president of the united states, as you said, paula, in a very partisan time looking to move pretty liberal legislation through congress. and on the other side, there's senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, who wants to stall that. he was pretty successful when he said that he wanted to block a fair amount of legislation from then-president barack obama. and he is likely to use that tactic, again. >> yeah, and you point out in this article, that president obama, in his new book, was pretty scathing about mitch mcconnell. calling him single-minded in his passionate pursuit of power. appreciate it. >> thanks very much. iran says it plans to enrich uranium to 20% purity, up from its current, 4% level, which is

already above the cap imposed in the 2015 nuclear deal. now, in a letter to the international atomic energy agency, iran says it intends to produce low-enriched uranium with more purity but far below the 90% that is considered weapons grade. now, last month, iran's parliament called for the increased-enrichment levels, in response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist. and in the coming hours, of course. protests are expected at the site where iranian general, qassem soleimani, was killed nearly one year ago. friday, a statue of him was unveiled at tehran university. soleimani, the former head of the islamic revolutionary guard quds force was killed by a u.s. drone strike, january 3rd, 2020. that upcoming anniversary has increased the saber rattling. the u.s. says the potential of an attack from iran is now the highest it's been since his death.

it's flown nuclear-capable b52 bombers twice in the past month as a show of force. coming up on cnn "newsroom." a doctor who's been warning the u.s. about the danger of the coronavirus now has it. she tells us how she and her family are coping. plus, the search for new ways to recycle plastic, and save the oceans. how one creative company found a way to turn it into, get this, disposable sludge. u this brita. dad... i just got a zerowater. 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? but zerowater- let me guess. zero? yup, that's how i know it is the purest-tasting water. i need to find the receipt for that. oh yeah, you do.

it's moving day. and are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours?

delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. and a warm welcome back. you are watching cnn "newsroom" and i'm paula newton. the u.s. has started 2021 with

some disturbing, pandemic figures. now, the country has surpassed the 20-million mark for coronavirus cases. it took 292 days to reach the first 10 million cases. this is the problem, though. it took just 54 days to reach the second 10 million. several states began the new year by breaking their records for new infections and deaths. and the number of covid-19 patients in hospitals, at this hour, is now far above 125,000. and that means, it has been at 100,000 and over, for the 31st-straight day. atlanta is the largest city to turn its convention center into an overflow hospital, as the surge of cases pushes the health-care system in this city to its breaking point, as well as frontline workers. dr. emily porter is an emergency physician, and joins me, now, from austin, texas. she and her family, now, have

the coronavirus. and i was not happy to hear this on -- when you posted it on twitter. and i'm not going to lie. i am a bit worried, dr. porter. your -- tell me how all of you are doing, and i will preface this by saying, you've been very clear on twitter that your husband's having a hard time. >> yeah, he is. we're having a -- the kids seem to be fine. we're having a hard time, in different ways. so, we think we got it from my 5-year-old, who is in kindergarten. there were nine kids in his class. they took symptom checklists, every day. they took temperatures, every day. he wore a mask. most of the time, they didn't enforce the masking. so, some other kids didn't. teachers did. we knew it was a risk. our nanny quit in march because she was worried about our jobs, getting coronavirus. you know, we -- we took a risk. we knew it. you know, we managed to go nine and a half months with no problems. and then, he got a runny nose, and a little, 101 temperature for a day, back on december 19th. we talked to the pediatrician.

there is lots of colds going around. there is, also, coronavirus. should we test him? well, we're not going anywhere, school's out. we are all going to be home for the next two weeks, anyway. and we hadn't been taking them anywhere, anyway. so, we decided not to test, yet, unless he didn't get better because it's also fever season. fever went away, in a day. runny nose went away, in a day. and then, my husband got vaccinated, incidentally, a couple days before. and now, on christmas eve, he stayed up late wrapping presents. started to get -- not feel well. took some tylenol, took some motrin. was shaking the bed with rigors. he came out for 30 minutes to watch the kids tear open their presents. and then, we tested him on the 26th. my daughter, also, got a fever, for one day, on the 25th. and so -- but -- but, two of our kids didn't have anything. and i was just fatigued,

exhausted. but it's, also, christmas, with four kids at home. you know, had a little headache. cedar stuff. you just don't know. i never got a fever. i never got chills. i never got rigors. neither of us ever had issues with loss of taste or smell. so, all the things we're looking out for. they call this thing the invisible enemy. it really was. the only reason why we tested was because my husband had a fever, and we were like, well, we should probably test one of us now. and then, the rest of us tested on the 28th. and four out of the five of us came back positive. i'm pretty sure my 4-year-old, there is no way he doesn't have it. you know, he licks everybody's popsicles and is up in everybody's face. so, we're going to retest him tomorrow. it's superscary, in a way, but it's also kind of a relief, in another way, if that makes sense. >> you put that in twitter, you said that you were a bit relieved. explain that because i was kind of puzzled by that.

>> so, i got vaccinated, too. and i want to clarify that neither one of us think the vaccine had anything to do with this. the only problem with the vaccine is we got it two weeks, too late. because it didn't have enough time to do what it was supposed to do. and so, it just -- it's just really bad timing. if this had been a couple weeks later, we would have been fine. and then, i don't think we're supposed to get a second dose because one of the things to getting the first dose was not having had coronavirus, you know, in the previous 90 days. >> right. >> so, terrified because my husband's still hacking. he got ten days off of work, but i don't know that he's still going to be well enough to go back to work. he hasn't had a fever, in a couple days. but he has a hacking cough. i am short of breath, sitting here. i stand up, my pulse goes up to 125. i have chest pain if i try to breathe, at all. and so, it's like, well, what's -- what's next week gonna be like? what is two months going to be like? i have a friend, healthy, 46-year-old physician, who got

this in march, in new york city. he still can't talk on the phone. he still can't walk down the street, and it's been nine months. everything looks normal on his scans, on his pulsox. so i am terrified what could happen, long-term, to us. when we will feel well again, what this is going to do to our children, months, years down the road. what this is going to do to our insurance record because now we have pre-existing conditions. we paid cash because i was terrified. she was negative. hadn't been anywhere, but had a fever for a day. and then, relieved because it's, like, okay, well, maybe, for 30 days -- or for 90 days, we're less likely to get it again. if my kids are all positive, i don't care that other kids at school aren't masking appropriately because my kids are at least protected for a couple months. so, relieved, in the sense that now i don't have to -- we haven't gone anywhere. not that we are going to start

magically going places. but now, i don't have to constantly worry is every fever coronavirus? because we don't have to test them again for 90 days. that's what cdc guidelines are. so, at least i don't have to traumatize them again, in the next 90 days. my kids are young. you know, they are 4, 5, 7, 8. at least now, for 90 days, we can relax a little bit. so, that's what i mean, i guess. >> dr. emily porter, thanks so much. appreciate it. >> thank you, paula. >> you know, something very interesting she said there, as well. they both got the vaccine, right, and then they got covid-19. it takes a few weeks, at least, to build up any kind of immunity, after you get the vaccine. something all of us need to keep in mind. now, to the latest out of asia. when it comes to coronavirus, south korea is banning gatherings of five or more people, nationwide. now, the health ministry says daily cases there are in the hundreds. japan, with a much larger population, is reporting daily cases in the thousands.

the ministry of health confirms that 716 patients were in serious condition due to covid-19, on friday. that's a new record. now, the year 2020 was, yes, excruciating for many of us, all around the world, thanks, of course, to the coronavirus pandemic. zain asher shows us how people have been saying good-bye, and preparing for a brand new, and let's hope, better, 2021. >> reporter: fireworks erupt over a now-infamous city in china. what a difference a year makes, especially in this place. where the virus, that would change the world, was first detected. the world health organization, in china, was informed on new year's eve in 2019 of a sickness spreading in wuhan. a pneumonia with an unknown cause. it would be an outbreak that would sweep the world. a universal heartbreak that has, so far, killed more than 1.8 million people. a year later, survivors in wuhan

turn to some time-honored traditions, like praying at this buddhist temple for better luck, this year. and to close the door on an unthinkable year. >> translator: i hope health takes priority. i hope i become healthier and feel more safe and sound. >> reporter: similar prayerers around the world. in india, priests perform the cleansing fire ritual overlooking the holy ganges. >> 2020 was a challenging year for lot of us. but, yes, it has taught us many lessons. >> reporter: one of the lessons, to try to find joy in daily life. like these brave souls, underdressed for winter temperatures, but perfectly suited for the yearly plunge into the tiber river in rome. in germany, shops and

restaurants may be closed. but the thrill of sledding, that's something that can't be regulated. there is a saying that time heals all wounds. here's to a collective wish from the world, that 2021 is that remedy. zain asher, cnn, new york. >> okay. now, if the world can get past covid-19 in 2021, there could be renewed attention on some of the other big problems, like plastic pollution. some are working on it, now. lynda kinkade has more. >> reporter: plastic pollution, washing up on shores, around the world, no doncontinent left untouched. despite efforts to reduce plastic waste, the united nations predicts there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans, by 2050. one startup in budapest, hungary, is trying to change that. >> we saw plastic waste pollution as a very pertinent issue. so, we decided to try to combine biotechnology, and chemical

engineering, to create a medium which can actually bring plastics back into the natural lifecycle, to which they once belonged. >> reporter: these two biochemists created a bacterial cocktail, as they call it, which can degrade any type of plastic. it takes just seven weeks. >> this is how it's going to look like, in two weeks. in seven weeks time, it goes to this. this is the end product of our process. >> reporter: that resulting, brown liquid, can then be used to develop more bioplastics. or possibly, even serve as a soil enhancer. that's what initial tests are showing. while local and national governments have tried to curb plastic production through single-use plastic bans, and other restrictions. the numbers are clear. plastic production continues to rise, steadily, each year. and most of those plastics will never be recycled. it's estimated that only 9% of the plastic produced worldwide

has been recycled. the problem has inspired a new wave of creative solutions by companies across the world. all, looking for a more efficient way to repurpose plastics. in 2010, taiwan-based company, mini whiz created eco arc. constructed from bricks made of old water bottles. now, the company's developed a device which allows people to feed their used plastics into the machine. and in minutes, walk away with a new, household item that's been upcycled from their waste. then, there's a california company, which collects fishing nets often made from one of the more harmful plastics polluting our oceans. and recycling them into a material called net plus. that can then be turned into goods like skateboards, sunglasses, and hats. so, what do all these companies have in common? well, they are creating sustainable solutions that bring

value back to plastics, and, in effect, show people that single-use plastic can be more than just trash. >> the problem with plastics, up until now, was that they lingered on in the environment, forever. well, once we can biodegrade them, bring them back into the natural environment, they become part of nature, again. become part of the global-recycling system, not just the human one. >> reporter: lynda kinkade, cnn. for international viewers, marketplace africa is next. for everyone else, i'll be right back with more news, in a moment. verizon 5g is next level. now get one of our best 5g p phones on us when you buy e and get $500 when you switch. plus, select unlimited plans include disneyey+, hulu, and espn+. 100% obsessed with "the mandalorian." (man) i watch a lot of sports. (woman) it has all my favorite shows. and right now, the gaming the whole family will love is also on us. it's like a gift on top of another gift. gifts keep coming at you. everywhere. this is 5g from america's most reliable network.

so, the u.s. gave the green light to, not just one but, two coronavirus vaccines. but that doesn't mean vaccinations are actually happening the way they should be. actually, getting the doses to americans is turning out to be a lot harder than planned. the trump administration wanted 20 million people vaccinated, by

january 1st. the cdc says less than 3 million people have gotten a shot. counting, both the pfizer-biontech vaccine and the one by moderna. when the coronavirus was first detected in the u.s., the seattle area was the focus of america's outbreak. sara sidner returns to the nursing home that, first, confronted the devastating battle that it is, still, fighting today. >> that feels good. >> reporter: these were some of the very first people in the united states to go to war with the new virus, without weapons to fight it. ten months into the pandemic, they are finally getting the most powerful weapon available. a vaccine. what is this day like for you? >> what i feel, right now, is a new life. a new beginning. but a better life. >> reporter: this was the first epicenter of america's deadly, coronavirus outbreak. what was your most difficult day? >> march 4th. >> reporter: registered nurse, chelsea earnest, cannot get the

memory of what happened that day out of her head. >> that was the night there was like five ambulances in the parking lot. >> reporter: patients were dying, or needed to be hospitalized. ultimately, 39 patients died. ten died at the facility. whose job was it to call the family members? >> there were many that -- that i had to call to either say they were going out to a hospital or that they didn't make it. >> reporter: the trauma of those days in march, and the family members' cries haunts them all. that same month, several members of the staff spoke to cnn. life care center said, in the first few days, they begged government agencies for help and received little. >> did you get what you need, when you needed it? >> no. no. >> reporter: testing took days to get the results, then. now, they have a rapid test that takes minutes. initially, the staff was blamed for not controlling the covid outbreak, by just about everyone.

>> threats. >> what kind of threats? >> all kinds of death threats. we ended up getting security. >> reporter: and soon, threats of a loss in funding and a fine of $611,000, unless the facility resolved problems found by inspectors. federal inspectors said life care failed to rapidly identify and manage all residents, putting them in immediate jeopardy. state inspectors reported similar findings. life care center appealed. >> we knew what we had done was the best we could have done. >> reporter: in september, a state administrative judge, largely, agreed. saying, the state provided relatively little evidence that the facility actually failed to meet any expected standard of care or failed to follow public-health guidelines. the federal case is still pending. ten months after the initial chaos of the outbreak, the closest we could get was a look from the outside, in. in-person visits are still forbidden. >> why don't you guys cover his legs up? >> reporter: the chairs outside

patients' windows used to communicate in march are now a semipermanent fixture here. this facility is covid free, right now, but several of the nursing homes nancy butler oversees, are not. >> there's not a day that goes by that i don't get a new message that we have a positive coronavirus patient or staff. >> still, sickening staff. >> yes. >> reporter: which is why this day is one of the most hopeful days they have had. but for this physician's assistant, the day was bittersweet. >> i have one person who, last week, asked me if she can get the vaccination. i said, sure, you can. unfortunately, she had to pass away. i did promise her that she would get it. so, it's just sad that she didn't get to see this. >> reporter: now, we should mention the nurses here, when this all first happened, new once they figured out that it was coronavirus, that other facilities across america and

the world would be dealing with something similar. and indeed, if you look at the numbers, that's just what happened. the federal agency that oversees america's nursing homes, now reports that more than 86,000 nursing-home residents have died of covid-19 here. >> and we will be right back, in a moment.

a powerful, winter storm has left more than 100,000 homes and businesses without power, across the united states. snowfall, with daily records set in oklahoma city, with more than 5 inches of snow. ice accumulations have produced downed trees and power lines, leaving tens of thousands in the dark in missouri, illinois, and indiana. and yes, here is the point. it is not over, yet. meteorologist, derek van dam, will tell us about it. and that, yeah, it's winter, right? i guess, kind of predictable, at this point. >> right. but, you know, paula, a lot of times, people think snowfall. but it's not only the snow that comes with winter in the u.s., tornados also accompany the warm side of the storms, as was present in georgia. this is southeast georgia. it flipped one of the homes in this area. damaged by the tornado, that

quickly, actually, formed. and then, basically, evaporated, within a matter of minutes. but it did its damage, and it was enough to set that area back for several weeks of cleanup. now, what we are more used to seeing is scenes like this, coming out of wichita, kansas, where they broke their new year's day record-total snowfall. over 6 inches, so over half a foot of snow fell in that location. you can see people just cleaning up their daily mix of snow there. i mean, that's very heavy, wet snow for them as well. it wasn't just the wichita area, it was also oklahoma city. we are not done with this storm, just yet. look at the winter weather alerts and advisories across new england, as well as my home state of michigan. i am from grand rapids. checked with my family, earlier. roads very slick across the region. very active. but the good news is the

majority of the precipitation along the major, east coast cities, d.c., philly, baltimore, into boston, has been rain. snowfall stretching into detroit, but it is quickly coming to an end. this is the lines across the southeast that created the havoc across georgia. there is still more winter weather in store for this region, as another, low pressure starts to move in across the region. forms heavy rain. that's why we have flood watches in effect, for that area. and you can see the snowfall totals piling up, through the weekend. check this out. no rest for the weary. that is the secondary storm that will end off the weekend, and start off the work week, next week. paula, very busy. >> very busy and, derek, so good to see you. happy new year, and thanks so much. i am paula newton. i'll be back with more cnn "newsroom," in just a moment.

hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i am paula newton. straight ahead, on cnn "newsroom." a new year, and vaccines, giving people hope for an end to the pandemic. the covid crisis continues to grow, with cases, hospitalizations, and dehs on the rise. the uk, on the brink of adding another vaccine in its fight against the virus. but the battle there, as well, far from over. and the u.s. president hunkering down in the white house, preparing for some gop members' election challenge.