but in the end it's right ♪ ♪ i hope you had the time of your life ♪ a routine, congressional ritual threatens to blow up into a major, political spectacle, this week, as a dozen senate republicans attempt to defy the will of american voters. meantime, 3 million georgians have already cast ballots in a runoff that will shape the balance of power in the senate, with two days to the election president trump is now casting doubt on the process. and the coronavirus has now killed 350,000 americans. a surge in california, so bad now, it's pushing hospitals to what one official calls the brink of disaster. hello and a warm welcome to our viewers here, in the united, and right around the world.

i'm paula newton, and this is cnn "newsroom." so, two months after americans picked joe biden for president, more republican lawmakers are falling in line, behind an angry donald trump. in an extraordinary show of disregard for the democratic process, at least a dozen sitting and incoming senators say they'll object to the certification of the electoral-college votes to confirm biden as the next president. the move, though purely symbolic, now there's been no credible evidence to suggest widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. the courts are, still, dismissing cases. on saturday, an appeals court rejected a lawsuit filed by representative louie gohmert and

other republicans, after a federal court threw it out, just the day before. now, they were seeking to force, if you can believe this, vice president mike pence to interfere in wednesday's electoral-vote count. but, courts, elected leaders, various officials, and, of course, the american people, have spoken. biden will be sworn in, as president, on january 20th. still, you can guarantee this. expect the lead-up to inauguration day to be chaotic. cnn's boris sanchez has more, now, from the white house. >> reporter: president trump getting welcome news, on saturday, after confirmation that at least a dozen republican senators are planning to reject to the results of the electoral college, when they are certified by congress on january 6th. the president had been campaigning for this, publicly, for some time. and now, these dozen republican senators, led by ted cruz, are essentially saying that they want to look at the allegations

of widespread-election fraud, even though the president and his team haven't been able to provide any. here is a statement from cruz and crew. they write, quote, we are not naive. we fully expect most, if not all, democrats and perhaps a few republicans to vote otherwise. but support of election integrity should not be a partisan issue. we should point out, there is allegations of widespread fraud are coming from the president and the white house. and they've not been able to corroborate any of these allegations of widespread fraud. these lawmakers are calling for a ten-day audit to exhaustively review the results from multiple states. clearly, their effort is not going to work, and they acknowledge it. they simply do not have the numbers. especially, in the house of representatives. other republicans are coming out against this effort, including lisa murkowski of alaska, and pat toomey of pennsylvania, one of those states where there is a lot of debate on the election, at least on the republican side.

here is a portion of a statement released from senator toomey released on saturday. he writes, quote, the evidence is overwhelming that joe biden won this election. his victory in pennsylvania is easily explained by the decline in suburban support for president trump and the president's slightly smaller victory margins in most rural counties. i voted for president trump and endorsed him for re-election. but on wednesday, i intend to vigorously defend our form of government by opposing this effort to disenfranchise millions of voters in my state and others. some of them, clearly, trying to stake their ground for a potential 2024 run, including senators hawley and cruz. others may be simply doing this for survival. there is serious concern, among republicans, about coming out against president trump on the issue of an objection on january 6th. just look at the way he went after john thune, the number two republican senator, calling for the senator from south dakota to

be primaried over his dismissal of hawley's objection. the president, clearly, still holds the reigns of the republican party, in a way establishment republicans are clearly bending to his will. boris sanchez at the white house. >> david perdue and kelly loeffler are, no doubt, hoping their blind loyalty to the president pays off. things are building to a fever pitch, as you can imagine, right here in georgia, ahead of tuesday's runoff election that will determine the balance of power in the senate. texas senator, ted cruz, campaigned with loeffler on saturday. he referred to the president's bogus claim that democrats stole this november election. >> but, look. are they going to try to steal it? yes. but i'll tell you what we are going to do. we are going to win by a big enough margin, ain't nobody stealing the state of georgia. >> meantime, georgia secretary

of state, brad raffensperger, a republican, who's been on the receiving end of the president's wrath since november, is trying to make it clear that, look. there's been no widespread-voter fraud in the state. >> we just have to accept the facts of what happened in the november election. i'm not happy with it and many conservatives aren't, either. but the end of the day, we want to make sure that we have a fair, honest election, coming up tuesday, and that's what we fight for. >> more than 3 million early votes have already been cast in georgia and monday brings out the big, political guns. president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris will head to georgia to support democrats reverend raphael warnock and jon ossoff. now, after georgia went blue in the presidential elections, the republican party became, of course, keenly aware of how important it is to turn out that trump base, in the georgia senate runoff. but the president, now, seeding

doubt about the election results, the two gop candidates will have their work cut out for them. cnn's kyung lah has the details. >> reporter: senator kelly loeffler is one of the three candidates crisscrossing the state, days ahead of georgia's senate runoff elections. three out of the four candidates are out campaigning. senator david perdue. one of the republican incumbents is not out on the trail. he is campaigning, from his home, holding virtual events after coming in contact with a covid-positive person on the campaign trail. but from his home and the candidates on the trail, they have all been focusing on tuesday's turnout. >> the level is exactly where it was in november when the polls had me down by five points. we won by two. matter of fact, 52% of georgians rejected jon ossoff and his democratic, liberal agenda in november. same thing happened in 2014. i don't put a lot of stock in polls. i look at this early voting, and

i am very confident with the president coming monday night, the vice president coming monday. and what we are doing with our team over the next three days. >> after four years of hatred and racism and division and bigotry, georgia is going to make a statement about love and decency and compassion and unity. because that's what georgia stands for. >> the very fabric of this country would be shred apart. the american dream would be impossible, and our country would be unrecognizable. so, we have to hold the line here, in georgia. >> because my mama said it's not what they call you, it's what you answer to. and in just a few days, she can call me senator raphael warnock. >> reporter: republicans, feeling the pressure, after 3 million people voted, early, in georgia. that is the early vote. that is ahead of tuesday's

election. republicans have to turn out more of the people, on election day. but, they're facing some headwinds. president trump has been increasingly focused on january 6th, not january 5th. even tweeting that tuesday's election is illegal and invalid. the president is scheduled to be in the state of georgia, supporting those two republican senators, on monday, the day ahead of the election. and republicans are wondering exactly what he is going to say. kyung lah, cnn, peach tree city, georgia. nathan gonzales is the editor of inside elections, and he joins me now from washington, d.c. he is also elections analyst for qq rollcall. nathan, you called it. you were saying, one way or another, this is going to be an historic week to start 2021 on capitol hill and in washington. set the stage for us. i mean, how peculiar and historic are these events going

to be? >> well, before we get to tuesday's races in georgia and later with the electoral college ratification, we have sunday, which is swearing in of a new congress, a very narrow house majority. there is going to be a vote for the speaker of the house, which i expect nancy pelosi to win again, but i think it's going to be close based on the two parties after these election results. and so, it's quite a way to quick things off. by the time we get to the electoral college ratification, it's going to be historic, one way or the other. in the end, joe biden is going to be sworn in as president of the united states, on january 20th. this letter, by these republican senators, is -- i don't see how it's going to work. i mean, fundamentally, when each state is going to -- each state's electoral votes are going to be submitted to congress. and members, as long as they re are members of the house and senate that agree to object,

there will be a two-hour -- up to a two-hour debate on each state. democrats have the majority in the house and republicans have a narrow majority in the senate. but there are multiple senators, who have said that they are going to -- to confirm the certified result. so, all of this in the letter, i just don't see. i think it's a lot of gamesmanship or -- or just trying to -- to put themselves in position, for the future. >> but, to that end, though. here is -- when you tell me how much of an impact you think this will have, you mention the fact that there is going to be debate on the floor about this. does it not give an opportunity for those unfounded claims, by president trump, to be front and center as if, somehow, in the middle of the senate floor, someone might be legitimately trying to claim that biden stole the election, which everyone, legitimate and otherwise, in every state, says he did not? >> sure, yeah. i'm not sure. i think that that will happen during a debate on the floor. i'm not sure that as many people

are going to be watching the floor debate as have listened to the president, for months. who have -- who has sown the seeds of distrust in the electoral process. i think, that is probably -- that -- that is the reason why -- i -- i just find it ironic that, in the senators' letter, they point to polling that shows that people distrust the process. now, first of all, republicans are the ones saying we -- we should ignore all the polls, anyway. and this is one of their fundamental things. but -- but beyond -- this is going to come down to specific votes. you know, by the house and of the senate after all the debate is over. and republicans that want to overturn these certified election results just don't have the votes to do it. >> and yet, they will get that platform to carry this on. now, georgia, on that platform, is actually becoming a bit problematic. because it's as if donald trump coming here to do a rally just before tuesday's election, it's as if he has to talk out of both sides of his mouth.

in terms of how any of this will impact georgia. definitely, close. will it all hinge on turnout, do you think? and how effective do you think either side will be in trying to get that turnout? >> i think it's true. i'm not sure how many people are actually being persuaded, in people who voted for the republican senators in november are now switching or vice versa. i think it does come down to turnout. early voting has shown that turnout is high. but the key is, you know, how many republicans turn out to vote on tuesday. democrats have the advantage, it looks like, on early voting. but republicans could overcome that on tuesday. and i think we have forgotten, because of this narrative that republicans did so well in the 2020 elections, even though the president lost, that control of the senate is on the line. this is not a guarantee. and it, also, comes -- we should also remember what we were talking about earlier with the electoral college and these senate races are tied together because, actually, georgia senator david perdue's term

ends. and he actually won't be sworn in, you know, the -- the tuesday election won't be ratified and certified for him to be sworn in to have a vote on the -- on january 6th, when the electoral college approval comes up. and so, these are -- these are all tied together. but, it's going to be -- it's going to be a wild week. >> yeah, absolutely. and election night in america, on tuesday, literally, you know, the fight for the senate on the line, tuesday, here in georgia. could be a few days before we get results. nathan gonzales, thank you. we'll watch it all with you. >> thank you so much. >> still ahead. the hardest-hit state in the hardest-hit country. how some of california's hospitals are getting much-needed help from the military in the battle against covid-19. and one of the patients fighting the virus in california hospital, at this hour. a cnn legend. details on larry king's battle, ahead.

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a short time ago, the u.s. crossed another, morbid pandemic threshold. more than 350,000 covid-19 deaths reported, since the crisis began. that's according to johns hopkins university. on saturday, alone, the country

reported almost 2,400 deaths. and, of course, the health-care system is feeling the pressure. the number of people in hospitals battling the virus was more than 100,000, for the 32nd-straight day. now, saturday the centers for disease control and prevention reported about 4.2 million americans have received the first-dose vaccine. although, more than 13 million doses have been distributed throughout the country. and no state is feeling the pain more than california. more than 53,000, just today, new infections reported there saturday. and 386,000 deaths. health officials, in los angeles county, say the virus is claiming a life, every ten minutes. california's hospitals are struggling to keep up with the influx of patients. the health-care system in the state is said to be on the brink of catastrophe and the military is stepping in to help. cnn's paul vercammen in los

angeles with details. >> reporter: the covid-19 tsunami in california is stretching resources so thin, that the army corps of engineers has now jumped into the fight here, in los angeles. surveying some seven hospitals to improve the oxygen-supply line to those covid patients who are gasping for breath. here's what they are seeing at these hospitals. >> we went to one hospital, and they had two tents outside. and one of the tents -- one of the tents, they were seeing covid patients. and it -- it's just -- they were tied into their mechanical systems, and so that's just an additional strain. so, we're -- we're trying to assess how we can reduce the strain on their facilities and their mechanical spaces, and -- and o2 oxygen distribution, as well. >> reporter: the army corps also serving boil heights where they now have 180 covid patients.

and the hospital members here, the head of the er, celebrating the arrival of the army corps of engineers. >> that's exactly right. these folks just can't get enough oxygenation into their blood, into their bodies. and that's what makes it so hard. these patients need so much oxygen, and there are so many patients. and so, the two taken together, it's really taxing the system. you know, these -- these oxygen lines can only carry so many liters, per minute. and we are approaching the upper level limits of those. >> reporter: the army corps of engineers supporting this hospital, as it is with other hospitals in los angeles. and here, at white memorial, we are also seeing members of the national guard helping to treat this influx, this unending influx, of patients. reporting from los angeles, i'm paul vercammen, now back to you. stanley pearlman is professor of biology and immunology at the university of iowa. and he joins me now from iowa city. what a year it's been,

especially for someone like you. you know, one of the leading experts in coronavirus of only about a dozen people in the world. what has surprised you about how this virus has behaved in the last year? >> well, certainly, the biggest surprise to me has been how contagious it is because, unlike the previous coronaviruses that cause severe disease in people, this one really transmitted from person to person. and that -- that probably, if i was going to pick one, single thing, is the surprise. and, of course, that's the surprise that's made this into such an awful pandemic. >> now, to the new variant. there's one in south africa. obviously, the one in the uk. i mean, some people seem to be downplaying it. and yet, if it makes this virus more transmissible, what is your prediction about the effect this could have on the pandemic? >> yeah. so, this is -- this is a difficult question because, if you have two people who are infected with an -- everything's exactly the same, so far, from

what we know, this virus seems to spread better. i have to say, a lot of this is done by modeling. so, we're not 100% sure of that, either. but everything has to be equal. so, if you take two people. one has the variant virus, and one has the original virus. well, one of them is wearing a mask and the other isn't. any contagions is -- is -- is blocked. so, even if the person has the more transmissible variant, it will be easy to stop it if the personal is social distancing, wearing a mask. so, it's only more transmissible when everything else is equal, including human behavior. >> okay. but that brings us to human behavior, right? and -- and we have seen, already it's happening in the uk. arguably, it's happening here, in the united states, with or without the variant. i mean, you can see the cases, today, already spiking. i try and explain to people. this isn't even a medical issue. it's a math issue.

if you start to do the math on some of these cases, where do you think we could find ourselves in two or three weeks, post-holidays? >> yeah, so that -- the issue there is the key words you just said, post-holiday. so, if people didn't take precautions during the holiday because they were lax, they're with their family. so, if we get more cases and, again, everything else being equal, if there is more cases and this is more transmissible, then they'll be even more cases. but there would be more cases, anyway. just from the lack of following the rules we think of prudent in terms of large gatherings or larger gatherings and even large gatherings. so, it's still a -- it's -- it's not a one-to-one correlation, here. if people wore masks, the risks would go way down. >> dr. fauci had predicted this, in the last few years, that this would happen. perhaps, you predicted it as well in terms of a global pandemic. how do we prevent the next one? have we learned a lot of lessons from this one, in order to help us contain the next one? >> well, one could only hope so.

first, we have learned some countries did a better job than the u.s. did, in maintaining the -- controlling the infection. whether it be korea or japan, they have -- they have -- when the infections hit those countries, they were much better about finding out who was infected, tracing contacts, both from previous contacts of that person. and also, who that person is -- is in contact with now. so, we know that. we know that you need to be ready to have much better testing. we know you need to have these protective gears, at high enough levels, so health-care workers and others can get them, as required. so, those are the kinds of things we learned. and we have actually learned a lot about other things, too. we have learned vaccines, we've learned much -- we've learned protocols or methods to develop vaccines, quickly, under -- we have certain information about the virus. so, i think we've learned a lot and preparedness is the big thing. and being weary of quick fixes.

these are the things. you know, you look at what new zealand did, particularly, and a few countries like that, and they were on top of it from the beginning because they said this is a big problem. it's serious. and we have to figure out where the infection's coming from, where it's going to, and we have to stop transmission. >> i certainly hope, given all the tragedy so many people have suffered through in the last year, that those lessons will be learned. dr. stanley pearlman, thanks, very much. >> thank you. now, sadly, one of the 20,000-plus people in california hospitals, at this hour, battling covid is larry king. the legendary, former cnn host has been at cedar-sinai medical center in los angeles, for more than a week now. that is according to a source close to the family. king is 87 years old. we are learning a few more details about his situation, at this point. cnn's brian stelter has more for us. >> reporter: larry king. a giant of broadcasting is the

latest, high-profile individual to come down with the coronavirus, and require hospitalization. king is 87 years old. he's been at cedar-sinai, the medical center in los angeles, for more than a week, according to a source close to his family. due to covid-19 protocols, his sons have not been able to visit him in the hospital. king is in isolation, like so many others who are struggling with covid-19, at this time. right now, we know that in the united states, about 125,000 americans are hospitalized. that was the figure on friday, just a slightly lower figure on saturday, as coronavirus continues to challenge, in some cases, overwhelm, the hospital system in areas like los angeles. king is a television mainstay, and a cnn legend. his program, "larry king live," aired here, on cnn, for 25 years. and he remained active, in his

days and weeks and years after cnn. he hosted a program for aura tv, as recently as november. covering the 2020 election. of course, he's an expert at telling other people's stories. but right now, his own story is in the news. hopefully, soon, he will be able to recover and tell his own experience. share his own story about having to fight off this nasty virus. brian stelter, cnn, new york. coming up on cnn "newsroom." americans, desperate to get the coronavirus var coronavirus vaccine, are waiting in long lines. and yet, there is no guarantee of delivery. that's next. and israel is, in fact -- with coronavirus vaccinations with more than 10% of the entire country already getting the first dose of the pfizer-biontech shots. the reasons why, next. unexpected situation? l'oréal's magic root cover up three seconds to flawless roots three...two...one... roots gone! magic root cover up by l'oréal paris

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and welcome back. you are watching cnn "newsroom." i am paula newton. india has just formally approved use of two coronavirus vaccines. the country has more than 10 million coronavirus cases, second only, in case count, to the united states. on saturday, india conducted a national drill, ahead of mass vaccinations. authorities are hoping to vaccinate 300 million people. now, johns hopkins university says more than 13 million vaccines have been distributed across the united states. but only 4.2 million have

actually been administered to people. and two and a half weeks, after the first dose was given, the slow rollout and a limited supply mean it's a scramble to get in line for the shot. like, these people, you see there in front of houston's first public, covid-19 vaccine clinic. saturday was its first day open, and it reached capacity in late afternoon. meantime, the state of florida has its own approach to distributing vaccines and it's causing even more confusion. dianne gallagher has more. >> reporter: as of saturday, just over 4.2 million americans have received the first dose of one of the approved covid-19 vaccines. according to the u.s. centers for disease control. now, that is out of the more than 13 million that have already been distributed, across the country. and therein lies an illustration of the problem the united states seems to be having. actually, getting those shots into people's arms. now, here in the state of

florida, the governor decided not to adhere to the recommendations of the cdc when it comes to who got that next phase of vaccines. initially, of course, it's the health-care workers and those in the long-term care facilities. but the cdc says that americans over the age of 75 and frontline, essential workers should be getting them next. in the state of florida, the governor decided anybody over the age of 65 will get the vaccine. and since making that decision, we have seen long lines in the state of florida. and really, a lot of confusion because each county, within the state, is doing something different. some of them are administering vaccines to those over the age of 65, on a first-come-first-served basis. we saw elderly people, literally, camping out overnight for a shot at, well, getting the shot. other counties were deciding to use appointments, and they saw their phone lines and their websites crash from so much

interest. now, we've talked to different people, who have attempted to get the vaccine. they say that the confusion is discouraging, but more than anything, they want that protection. and so, they are going to keep trying, until they get it. but take the county i'm in right now, lake county. they ran out of vaccines, today. they are currently waiting for another shipment before they will be able to continue vaccinating people who are over the age of 65 here, in florida. dianne gallagher, cnn, lake county, florida. israel's health minister says there could be more restrictions to come, since new covid-19 case numbers are at their highest level in nearly three months now. that's even though israel has one of the most impressive vaccination programs out there. elliot gotkin explains why. >> reporter: just two weeks in, israel has already administered vaccines to more than a million people. this out of a population of just 9 million. and there are three main reasons. first and foremost is healthcare.

it's universal. it's cheap. and the hmos know how to reach out to members and even pluck out at-risk groups and the like to prioritize them. it's also set up for big events, such as this vaccination campaign. second is politics. it's in the government's interest to vaccinate people as quickly as possible, not least because there are elections coming up in march. and finally, is geography. this is a small country. the population is pretty centralized. so, logistically, it's much easier to vaccinate people here than in a country like the united states. elliot gotkin, cnn, tel aviv. >> the uk is adding a new coronavirus vaccine to its arsenal. starting monday, the country will be ready to administer the first doses of that oxford-astrazeneca vaccine. phil black has more. >> reporter: the british prime minister has a reputation for prematurely predicting an imminent return to normal life. his latest forecast? >> april 5th, easter, we really are confident that things will be, very, very much, better.

>> reporter: during one of the darkest moments of the pandemic, johnson and his government are telling the british people it will be behind us by spring. could he be right, this time? >> maybe. it's about logistics, more than anything. >> reporter: the government's optimism is fueled by this vaccine. >> okay. >> reporter: developed by oxford university and astrazeneca. it's the most low-maintenance vaccine option, so far, because it doesn't need ultra-cold storage and the british government got in early. speeding up the regulator's scrutiny and securing supply. 100 million doses are coming, plus another 30 million doses of the vaccine produced by pfizer and biontech. together, it's more than enough to protect every british adult. >> the government has made a lot of -- a lot of mistakes in this outbreak but the thing it's done really well has been vaccine development. >> reporter: another advantage

for pulling off the next phase of the plan, which involves getting vaccine to around a third of the population, including everyone over 50 and everyone at greater risk, due to an underlying condition. >> we have a national health service that is funded through general taxation. and is highly integrated, in a way that is not the case in so many other countries. >> that's a structural, institutional advantage that other countries don't have? >> that's correct. i mean, many other countries, particularly larger, more complex countries, where health systems, for example, you have multip multiple partners, insurance companies, or many private providers. when you have a system like that, it is much more complex to deliver, at scale, and nationally, vaccine rollout. >> reporter: but nationalized healthcare hasn't prevented the uk from recording one of the highest numbers of deaths in the world. britain's track record through the pandemic, also, shows it does not guarantee success in handling big, complex operations. >> well, quite, quite. i'm slightly more confident in their ability to do this, than

other parts of this pandemic. simply, because it's been their -- their baby. it's been what they have been pushing. >> reporter: so, there are good reasons why the uk finds itself in a hopeful place, and we will see needles plunging into arms relatively quickly. but, to meet that easter deadline, and effectively end the threat of the pandemic in this country, that will take a medical-logistics operation unlike anything seen here before. phil black, cnn, london. the one-year anniversary of qassem soleimani's death, as tensions rachet up between u.s. the iran. is it just saber rattling or is the threat real? we'll have details, next.

a candlelight vigil has been held at the site of the u.s. drone strike that killed iranian

general qassem soleimani, one year ago today. soleimani was head of the islamic revolutionary guard's quds force. u.s. president biden hopes to engage with iran but there is a lot of reports about what could happen in the final days of the trump administration. >> at the exact location where a u.s. strike hit the vehicle, carrying top-iranian general, qassem soleimani, killing him, alongside a key iraqi paramilitary leader. since then, tensions between the u.s. and iran have only been escalating, with some u.s. officials saying that, at this point, the threat being posed by iran is the most significant it has been since soleimani's killing. pointing to, what they claim, is intelligence that says that iran has been moving short-range

ballistic missiles into iraq. but this is where it gets confusing. other senior u.s. officials are saying there is no actual evidence to corroborate this claim of a greater threat. either way, president trump is not shying from warning iran that, if one american is killed, he would be holding iran responsible. there still continues to be, on a fairly regular basis, mortars and rockets that fall inside the heavily-fortified green zone. on december 21st, a number of them, landing inside the u.s. embassy compound, itself. all of this, is leading to growing concerns, across the region, that the situation could escalate, even further. that, president trump could do something that could, potentially, be quite destabilizing and devastating, not just for the region's stability but, specifically, for the stability in iraq. a country that has, for a long time now, emerged as a proxy

battlefield between what's meant to be its ally, the united states, and its neighbor, iran. arwa damon, cnn, istanbul. coming up for us. wuhan, china, is getting back to normal after the coronavirus pandemic threw the city into the international spotlight. we will talk about that, coming up. unexpected situation? l'oréal's magic root cover up three seconds to flawless roots three...two...one..... roots gone! magic root cover up by l'oréal paris oh my gosh!

officials in tokyo and surrounding areas are calling for more drastic measures to fight a new surge in covid-19 cases. now, they are urging the japanese government to declare a state of emergency. the local officials say infection rates are so high that the health-care system is now on the verge of a crisis. now, tokyo confirmed more than 800 new cases, on saturday, after reaching an all-time high of more than 1,300, on thursday. now, just over a year ago, the world's focus zeroed in on the city of wuhan, china, where an outbreak of a mysterious illness was spreading. a year later, there is still so

much we don't know about the coronavirus. but the people of wuhan have persevered, after enduring months of sickness and lockdowns and, of course, the stigma of being the location where many believe the virus began. life in wuhan is, gradually, returning life in wuhan is gradually returning to normal with no recorded cases since may. businesses are starting to rebound and people are starting to enjoy mixing together at social events. of course, questions remain. the world health organization is finally set to visit the city this month. they'll be asking, why did the virus take hold here, and what can be done to make sure it doesn't happen again? a former resident of wuhan, founder of the go wuhan campaign. she previously worked for a number of media organizations, including for us at cnn. she joins me from singapore. it is great to see you, yuli.

i understand many of your family members still live in wuhan. describe what it's like there now. we've seen some of the pictures, but what's it like for you family a year on? >> thank you, paula. i know as the world is still struggling, in your previous reporting as mentioned on this virus, especially with the new strains, it's kind of hard to imagine, but it is true that life is basically back to normal now in wuhan with my friends and family and the residents in wuhan. people have been back to work, kids are back at school, traffic is back on the streets. in this new normal we have masks, temperature checks everywhere, we have to scan qr codes for contact tracing purposes. but there is this real sense of safety and normalcy back in wuhan.

but of course, within amongst family and friends, people still pay extremely close attention to any news that's virus related. if there's any important stories, people share those, spread those very quickly through social media like wechat apps to their friends. especially close attention put on the elderly, wanting to make sure they're nowhere close to any attention. >> yeah, i can only imagine having gone through what the city went through, that community vigilance is actually quite important. i remember seeing those first pictures out of wuhan thinking, what a strict lockdown, how can they do that, how can these people endure this? yet here we are now. people at the time seemed to have so much fortitude, th give they had no idea what they were facing back at the beginning when we didn't know how much about the virus. how did they get through it? >> now thinking back, it really

felt that those were some of the darkest days that i can remember for my own family, for my friends, really. thinking back to the beginning of the year when wuhan all of a sudden got into back down, it felt like time all of a sudden stood still. it felt like the city was under attack by this invisible attacker, the coronavirus. we had very little knowledge of how exactly to protect ourselves. and also, we had zero idea about whether any of this is ever going to end. and that's really terrifying. and, for example, you would basically have no idea whether you would have enough food to eat. obviously as the lockdown continued, there was a lot of volunteering, lots of solutions that communities have come up with to make sure that people have supplies and food.

but when you all begin, it felt like endless darkness, really. >> yeah, just what you just described there is terrifying. you did start your campaign. how much did the people of wuhan need that kind of support? >> yeah, thank you so much for mentioning that. so at the beginning of this whole crisis, i'm sure you recall as well, there was quite a bit of racial-based hate and some attack instances as well because of this coronavirus. and obviously as we all know now, the virus kind of attacked all of us indiscriminately and we shouldn't be attacking amongst ourselves, we should be giving compassion and support and care for the people who are suffering this virus. that's why we started this #gowuhan campaign, hoping people would support and be compassionate for the people in wuhan. and i'm very grateful to say that that's what we have received from across the world.

and that does make a difference to people, especially for their mental well-being, knowing that they're not fighting this virus alone, even though they're under this very strict lockdown in their own homes, but they know that they're not only being a victim of hate and attacks, there are also people out there who are hoping that they will recover soon. i'm very grateful for all the messages that we have received through this campaign, across the world, and i do want to say that that support is important for wuhan. >> such a great message of hope to end with. such an example, such optimism, just looking at the pictures of wuhan from new year's as we did at the top. everyone celebrating, in masks, but celebrating. yuli, thanks so much, really appreciate, and it's really good to see you. >> thank you, paula, it's great to see you too.

now the girl who many consider to be the face of the climate change movement is celebrating a birthday, a very important one. greta thunberg turns 18 today. the fearless young activist has pulled no punches in publicly shaming world leaders for their lack of action on global warming. so think about it. what would be the perfect gift for "time's" 2019 person of the year? of course, it would be to save the planet. but here's what's interesting. there were some new headlights for her bicycle as well. and i am relieved to hear that she's a normal teenager in that regard. i am paula newton. my colleague and friend, robyn curnow, will take over from me right now. there will be more "cnn newsroom" in just a moment.

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coming up, we take you inside hospitals buckling under the strain of covid cases and see how they're detting desperately needed help. in the uk the virus surge is forcing several failed emergency hospitals to reopen. we're live outside one of those. then a growing number of republican senators say they plan to challenge joe biden's win.