welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. thanks for joining me this hour. coming up on the show, the u.s. death toll from co-vid hits a major milestone. hospitals are filling up faster than ever before. ted cruz and more u.s. senators lining up to support donald trump as the president tries to overturn joe biden's legitimate election victory. and then iran and the supporters are making a solemn anniversary. one year ago a u.s. air strike

killed a general there and the heightened tensions in the middle east. if you want to get a sense of the strains facing hospitals right now, take a look at southern california. health officials there say co-vid patients are dying at a rate one every ten minutes. that's one factor that's pushed the u.s. death toll past 350,000. more than 20 million americans have now been infected with co-vid. hospitals across the u.s. have reported more than 100,000 co-vid patients every day for more than a month now. many facilities are so crowded they're in danger of running out of resources to help people with nonco-vid emergencies. and a key factor to keep co-vid patients alive is getting enough oxygen into their blood. many of those delivery systems were never designed to treat so many people at once. we explain how the u.s. military

is trying to step in. >> the covid-19 tsunami in california is stretching resources so thin that the army corp. of engineers has jumped into the fight in los angeles, serving some seven hospitals to improve the oxygen supply line to those co-vid patients who are gasping for breath. here's what they're seeing at these hospitals. >> we went to one hospital, and they had two tents outside, and one of the tents they were seeing co-vid patients. and it's just -- terp tied into their -- they were tied into their mechanical systems. that's an additional strain. we're trying to look at how to reduce the strain on their mechanical spaces and 02 distribution as well. >> also serving white memorial

where they have 180 co-vid patients, and the hospital members here, the head of the er, celebrating the arrival of the army corps of engineers 12346789. >> these folks can't get enough oxygen into their bodies. that's what makes it hard. these patients need so much oxygen and there are so many patients. and it's taxing the system. these oxygen lines can only carry so many liters per minutes and we're approaching the upper limits of this. >> the army corps of engineers supporting this hospital and others in los angeles. and at white memorial we're seeing members of the national guard helping to treat the unending influx of patients. reporting from los angeles, back to you. >> thank you for that. i want to take to you to the uk where health care workers are preparing to reactivate seven

emergency field hospitals. this is tas the surge threatens to overwhelm units. we are standing outside one of the emergency field hospitals. if you can tell us what's expected and when and how will they be activated if needed? >> reporter: you can see the center behind me. it's a huge conference building. a massive space. but the question is how do you staff it? we already know the national health service, the doctors and nurses are stretched to the limit. we already know that hospital beds are being stretched to the limit. two-thirds of hospital beds in london are being used by covid-19 patients. so how do you get equipment in as well? well, the government's answer might be bringing in the military, bringing in troops to staff that building behind me and most likely it won't include co-vid patients. it would include patients of other illnesses and other things so they can make more room in the hospitals for patients. one nhs doctor described the

space as an insurance policy of last resort. to reopen it is a sign of how desperate the times are, and they are indeed desperate. there are more patients in the hospital with coronavirus than at any point before. yesterday a record breaking number of cases. ambulances are lining up outside hospitals because the hospitals are at their limit. there's one sign of hope on the horizon. that is the oxford university and astrazeneca vaccine set to roll out monday. a lot of pride around that. this vaccine will not need to be stored at the sub zero temperatures. that means it can be held in a normal fridge and put into people's arms more easily. but there's been a bit of controversy around the vaccination program here. the government put out a couple of bits of guidance that divide the medical community including delaying the second injection of

the two-part vaccination program, delaying the second injection by up to three months. they've also advised it's okay to mix vaccines. both of the opinions, this guidance, of course, is controversial. something that divides doctors. so why are they doing this? well, it shows that absolutely everything has to be done here to get control of this variant. it's simply spreading through the population so quickly and the fear is the health care system is at breaking point. >> thanks for that update. india has just formally approved emergency use of two coronavirus vaccines. the one by oxford astrazeneca and co-vid vaccine. the country has more than 10 million cases. second to the u.s. authorities are hoping to vaccinate 30 0 million people including health care workers, police, soldiers and vulnerable groups. saturday india conducted a national drill ahead of mass vaccinations. >> i want to bring in a global

health expert at the university college london. good to see you. you heard our correspondent on the ground outside the excel center. the preparations to reactivate the emergency field hospitals, rarely an indication of how bad it's expected to get. do you think this will ease the burden on the health care system in the uk? >> here in the uk and in england in particular, we're seeing that the worst part of the pandemic has hit us now, and that we could see another 100,000 deaths by june 2021. and that it would actually exceed the first wave, the number of deaths. so the reactivation of the field hospitals is necessary, but, of course, the problem we face is the staffing shortage and how we're going to be able to man these larger field hospitals. so despite having the space, there's still going to be a struggle in order to treat the patients with people who have the appropriate skill sets for

requiring ventilation and other aerosol-generating procedures. >> yeah. important point. that's obviously something that's going to concern many people. one of the positives as we were talking with selma about, this astrazeneca oxford university roll out expected monday. how quickly can the uk and other places like the u.s. which is also lagging catch up with the virus so vaccine shots start overtaking new infections? >> well, this is a long game. so we shouldn't look at the fact that needs vaccines that are beginning to be rolled out can fix the current problem. these will not necessarily save the lives of people who are already getting infected and this is why we need to continue these public health measures alongside more aggressive vaccination rollout. and that requires ensuring that we have upscaling of staff and more resources dedicated toward this rollout. but, again, this is not going to

be something that even here we've had some -- the prime minister say that we should be able to get enough protection by easter 120i, but at the current rate of vaccination, that's not a realistic estimate. >> so what's also your take, then, on this mix and match vaccine regimen the uk is saying it's going to be okay to cross use different vaccines. is this a sign of decembsperati or is this the uk being the wild west as suggested by some? >> i think there is some misconception around this particular piece of guidance that has been issued. we've heard from public health england to clarify that this would be under extremely rare circumstances in which either it's not possible to trace what type of vaccine the first vaccine was in a patient, or if

there is such a critical shortage that it wouldn't be possible to deliver the second vaccine dose. it is thought that rather than missing out the second dose altogether, it would be better for the patient to receive another vaccine, but, again, this isn't something that would be widely encouraged. it's a very specific narrow set of circumstances and also an example of how clinical trials have these perfect conditions that really center around a smaller group of people. but when we roll that out to the population level, it would be naive to think that we wouldn't run into hiccups. that it's going to look exactly the same. and here this is, actually, a move in which in the uk we've already covered that the situation is extremely serious. it is looking to get worse. and this is the way that the uk has thought, at least with the gap of potentially extending it

for 12 weeks rather than what was followed in the exact clinical trial, that this would allow a broader set of the population to have some sort of protection. that's because of the circumstances we're currently in, and the measures that need to be taken. >> i understand you've also just recovered from co-vid yourself, and there's also been a lot of talk about this new variant. what is the thought about why this is so much more infectious, this new variant? is this about people shedding new virus? about the virus surviving better in the air or on surfaces? and how are you feeling as well? >> this new variant has really hit london particularly the hardest. and it is -- this is part of the contributing to why these hospitalization rates are increasing so much. so it's tripled and the number of hospitals admissions since the beginning of december. so we can really see this sort

of immediate effect of this taking place. and i think we're still really looking to try and understand why this particular variant in the uk has become so much more infectious, up to 60% more infectious, but the other strain that is also extremely concerning is the one emerging from south africa which has a bit chunkier mutation and could be a bigger problem than the one we're seeing here in the uk. because despite the increased transmisability, at least the good news is it doesn't appear to have more severe outcomes for health. that's positive for patients. thank you for asking about how i'm doing. it was -- i had a pretty bad go of it. however, i'm feeling much better now. and i'm really -- when the vaccine becomes available for me, i will be -- that may be some time, because i don't have any underlying conditions, et cetera, and younger but maybe

within the next year, 2022, i'll be really happy to get that vaccine, because it's not something i would want to go through again. >> okay. thanks for that. and great to see you're on your feet again. appreciate it. now, one prominent american battling co-vid right now is larry king, the former cnn host has been at a medical center in los angeles for more than a week. that is according to a source close to the family. because of restrictions we know king's children have not been able to visit him. he's 78 years old. california is seeing a staggering number of co-vid related deaths and many hospitals are at or near capacity. they're running out of beds. that's the unimaginable, to run out of beds. >> more on this very dire situation in california later on this hour. plus the u.s. president remains focussed on his election loss. now a plan to object to the counting of electoral college vote and mr. trump's call for

decoiling dissent in the ranks. that's up next. ith your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get yoyour first stock on us. robinhood.

i want to take you to iran.

these are live baghdad images coming to us at cnn. protesters are are gathering in iraq to mark the one-year anniversary of the u.s. assassination of soleimani. he was killed by a u.s. drone strike in baghdad last january. the strike also killed an iraqi military leader. the protesters are calling the government follow through on the parliament's decision to remove u.s. forces from iran. >> so 12 republican senators now say they will oppose certification of joe biden's election when despite a total lack of credible evidence of widespread voter fraud. on saturday 11 lawmakers said they would join and object to the counting of electoral college votes when congress

meets january 6th. five of them were either elected or reelected in the vote. they refuse to certify. mr. trump approves but not all republican lawmakers are on board. some are condemning it as an attempt to thwart the will of the people. they are coming under attack from the president as well. >> reporter: president trump getting welcome news on saturday after confirmation that at least a dozen republican senators are planning to object to the results of the electoral college when they're 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 they want to look at the allegations of widespread election fraud, even though the president and his team have been able to provide any. here's a portion of the statement from cruz and crew. they write, quote, we are not naive. we fully expect most if not all democrats and perhaps more than a few republicans to vote

otherwise. but support of election integrity should not be a partisan issue. we should point out the 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 house of representatives. other republicans are coming out against this effort including lisa murkowski of alaska and pat toomey of pennsylvania. one of the states where there's a lot of debate about the results of the election, at least on the republican side. here's a portion of a statement from senator toomey released on saturday. rewrites, quote, the evidence is overwhelming that joe biden won this election. his narrow victory in pennsylvania is easily explained by the decline of 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 reelection, 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. examining the motivation behind these 12 senator's objections, some of them are trying to stake their ground for a potential 2024 run, including senators holly and cruz. others may simply be 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. 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 holly's objection. the president clearly still holds the reigns of the republican party and is exercising that power in a way where establishment republicans are clearly bending to his will.

boris sanchez, cnn at the white house. thank you for that. after georgia went democratic blue in the presidential elections, republicans became keenly aware of how important it is to turn out the trump base here in these georgia senate runoffs which are coming up this week. with the president casting doubt about election results, the two georgia republican candidates will have their work cut out for them as cnn now reports. >> 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 on the trail. he's campaigning from his home, holding virtual events after coming in contact with a co-vid positive person on the campaign trail. but from his home and the candidates on the trail, they've all been focusing on tuesday's turnout. >> the energy level is exactly where it was in november when

the polls had me down five points. we won by two. as a matter of fact, 52 .5% 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 the early voting and i'm confident with the president and the vice president coming and what we're doing with our team over the next four days. >> after four years of hatred and racism and division and bigot bigotry, georgia is going to make a statement about love and compassion and unity, because that's what georgia stands for. >> the fabric of this country should be shred apart, the american dream would be impossible, and our country would be unrecognizable. we have to hold the line 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 off araphael wa. >> reporter: republicans feeling the pressure after 3 million people voted early in georgia. that's materially vote. that's ahead of tuesday's election. republicans have to turn out more of the people on election day, but they're facing head winds. president trump has been increasingly focussed on january 6th lt, not january 5th, tweeting tuesday's election is illegal and invalid. now, 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. cnn, peach tree city, georgia. >> a political science lecturer at university college london and the director of the ucl center is joining us from oxford,

england. as you heard the georgia runoff is so crucial, and again, it's about voter turnout. how much momentum do the democrats have? >> well, you're right, robin. both senate races in georgia are incredibly close, much closer than many experts initially predicted. what is clear is the races have become truly national contests because of their stakes. and shattering fundraising records. political records have been ubiquitous and we've seen more than 3 million early votes which reflects the intense interest in the races. as you suggest, this will be a base mobilization game. anything can happen. turnout will inevitably be lower than the presidential race on november 3rd. that means the average republican voter will be more conservative and the average democratic voter will be more liberal. the competitiveness of the contests also raising the interest in question of what might have if the margin of victory is small. trump called the georgia runoffs

illegal and invalid. it adds to concerns about voter distrust in the process. all eyes this week will be on georgia. >> yeah. it's a huge week, and i think many people in georgia will also be relieved if it does end for many of these political ads to stop. it has been ubiquitous. overwhelming on some level. i want to look ahead for a dramatic week for the showdown expected in congress. the vice president, other trump loyalists are trying to help mr. trump override the election results. it's nothing more in many ways than a cynical fast. nothing is expected to come of it. joe biden will be inaugurated january 20th. my question is why do it? is this less about the outcome and more about the act? >> well, robin, i think this is mostly political theater, but we still shouldn't underestimate how dangerous of a precedent it sets for u.s. senators to aid and abet trump's baseless

allegations of the electoral fraud. i think it's about political ambitions and survival. but efforts have faced a feat in roughly 60 court cases and to still see this response from elected leaders is extremely regrettable. it's important to emphasize the vast majority of republicans on capitol hill don't support this effort. mitch mcconnell opposes it and the ploy won't change the fact that joe biden will be sworn in on january 20th. the fact that it's likely to garner the support of nearly a dozen republican senators, including senator holly and ted cruz and marsha blackburn is partisanship at the worst and it reveals how strongly of a grip trump maintains elements of the gop. clearly many republican lawmakers view this as furthering their own political ambitions. >> in many ways this is seen as a loyalty test to mr. trump by

some of the republicans and you're talking about the pushback. say listen, mr. biden won. let's move on and deal with the future. so with this push and pull between the republican party, where does it leave the republicans and the political landscape post trump? >> well, i think the most problematic aspect is for u.s. democracy at large. this january 6th standoff is going to do serious harm for u.s. democracy. bill galston said recently it's not the short-term turbulence you worry americans. joe biden will be inaugurated. it's the fact that we're at a point where a nontrivial number of gop politicians call it appropriate to call into question the integrity of free and fair elections despite all the evidence pointing to the legitimacy of the elections. i think this does do serious harm to the republican brand. i think it turns off a lot of moderates. and many are just going to see

this for what it is, a last ditch political ploy. this is why mitch mcconnell really wants to avoid this. i don't think he's going to be able to do that. and we'll see how the party evolves with trump going forward. >> thomas gift from the ucl center on u.s. politics. thank you for your insights. >> thank you. ahead, here on cnn, a grim look at california hospitals stressed to the brink of catastrophe by the coronavirus surge there. we have that story, plus a bumpy vaccine roll out in florida is raising all kinds of concerns and alarms. that's also coming up. finish quantum with activeblu technology, cleans without pre-rinsing. switch to finish and skip the rinse to save water.

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. thanks for joining me. it is 32 minutes past the hour. the global pandemic has now claimed more than 350,000 american lives since last march. no other country is even that close. hospitalizations are also the clearest measure of the crisis. for the past 32 days the number of people needing medical care in the u.s. has surpassed 100,000 nationwide. while it's bad everywhere, southern california is the worst. health officials there say one co-vid patient is dying every ten minutes. one nurse in california is using her social media account to highlight how hospitals are being pushed to the brink as we report. >> reporter: l.a. county emergency room nurse says her hospital is running out of oxygen tanks and space in the morgue. >> our morgue is full.

it's only a matter of time before they start breaking out the butcher trucks. >> reporter: throughout the pandemic she's used her social media to warn residents of what's to come if the current trend of co-vid cases continues. >> ten hours later, there's just as many blaambulances. they don't stop coming. >> reporter: cases in the state have surged. in spite of strict covid-19 protocols including a stay at home order while california's governor pushed for a lockdown in parts of the state, shutting down theme parks, limiting dining at restaurants, and shuddering movie theaters to flatten the curve. meantime in florida, a statewide open for months, things are faring better for rate of new co-vid cases. why? public health experts say los angeles was uniquely susceptible to an infectious disease outbreak. >> los angeles county is home to some of the most overcrowded housing setups in the country. because of that, you're seeing a lot of household transmission of the virus.

there are high rates of poverty and high rights of homelessness. >> reporter: many are suffering from poverty or homelessness. the widening gap of co-vid cases present in georgia is also a spark reminder that many essential workers there are people of color. the rate at which people are getting sick, especially latino residents is most alarming. >> california's department of health says 47% of the co-vid related deaths are latino. despite latinos making occupy 39% of the pandemic. more than 24,000 people have died in california and with hospitals flooded and airports packed, california is becoming the next epicenter of the pandemic. >> i think january and february are going to be really dark. >> i think we're all pretty tired. now, many people here in the u.s. who want vaccines are being forced to wait, not sure when they'll be able to get them. florida has it own approach.

it's causing even more confusion as we report. >> 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 the next phase of vaccines. officially it's the health care workers and those in the long term care facilities. the cdc says 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're going to keep trying until they get it. but take the county i'm in right new. lake county. they ran out of vaccines today. they're currently waiting for another shipment before they will be able to continue vaccinating people who are over

the age of 65 in florida. cnn, lake county, florida. police have fined more than 1,000 people at an illegal new year's eve party that lasted for days in the french country side. officials estimate more than 2000 people attended this dance party between thursday and saturday. in despite strict coronavirus restrictions and a national curfew. police say they tried to shut down the festivities, but some responded with violence, injuring several officers. a similar scene in spain over the holiday as well. police near barcelona broke up an illegal rave on saturday that had been going on for more than 40 hours. hundreds of people could face charges and fines for attending. police say they've arrested the organizers of that event. now, the pandemic is certainly taking a brutal toll on women and girls who are already vulnerable to forced marriages and domestic violence. with lockdowns around the world, many have no schools, no friends

and little help. they're often trapped with their abusers. we report on efforts in the uk to reach out to these young women. >> reporter: here i was just a normal child, and then my life just flipped literally within a day. >> reporter: at just 16 years old living in the u.s., she was subjected to a forced marriage. >> it was a horrible time. a big part of me died during those two years. >> reporter: against all odds, she was able to leave her husband and forge a new life. she now campaigns against child marriage and works to support victims of honor-based abuse. while her story has been a source of hope for many victims, the fate of her older sister who was killed after leaving an abusive forced marriage is a tragic reminder of the price some women pay for freedom. five men, including her own father, were convicted and jailed for life. >> she went from just like me,

being a normal 17-year-old to having that taken away from her, forced into a marriage, and then because she left that marriage, essentially, that's why she lost her life. >> reporter: almost 15 years have passed since her sister was killed. but the threat of forced marriage and honor-based abuse is still an ongoing reality for hundreds of women in the uk. and like many campaigners, she fears the coronavirus pandemic has only intensified the problem. >> i very quickly started hearing about the rises in cases, and it just terrified me to think that women and girls are now locked in with their families, and their abusers, and they have nowhere to go. >> reporter: it's an issue which freedom charity founder has been grappling with over the last few months. she says her organization has seen a spike in help line calls since the beginning of the pandemic and is calling on the government to ensure that victims of forced marriage have somewhere safe to take shelter. >> there needs to be somewhere that focuses on the young girls

to give them the best health care, the best chance of a full life, get them into education and let their dreams ands a separations come true. >> but with nowhere to go, she says many young victims have been pushed into isolation at home. >> many are kept as slaves, doing absolutely everything for the family. they're not allowed access to the internet or the phone. and every movement is controlled. almost every thought is controlled until they submit and agree to get married. >> reporter: the british government has told cnn it is a world leader in the fight against forced marriage. issuing more than 2,60 0 protection orders since the practice was made illegal in 2014. but national coronavirus restrictions made it even more difficult for charities to identify victims. government-backed charity chairman says it recorded a significant drop in referrals over the summer. with 64% fewer cases identified by social services. and after the first national

lockdown, the charities saw a 43% increase with nearly 100 victims going onto receive support. the youngest just eight years old. for this woman, the ordeal of facing a forced marriage during the pandemic is painful to imagine. >> thinking of myself living with my family or my husband during a time like this, it scares me to even think of. it's such a scary reality, but i know it's one for so many women and girls. >> reporter: while there are hopes the country could return to some form of normality over the coming months, for some young women, it could already too late. cnn, london. thank you for that. so coming up on cnn here, cars in baghdad to mark one year since the u.s. killed a top iranian general. coming up, why a standoff between the u.s. and iran may be getting even worse.

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i want to take you back to baghdad. these are live pictures of protesters gathering to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of soleimani. he was killed in a drone strike last january in baghdad. the strike also killed an iraqi militia leader. and when it comes to the u.s. and iran, again, accusing each other of increasing tensions in the region, arwa damon reports there are reports that the saber rattling could build out into an all-out conflict. >> there are kmem rags underway along baghdad's airport road at the exact location where a u.s. strike hit the vehicle carrying top iranian general soleimani killing him alongside a key

iraqi military leader. since then tensions between the u.s. and iran have only been escalating with some u.s. officials saying 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 that 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 would 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 emerged as a proxy battle field between what's meant to the allies of the united states and its neighbor, iran. arwa damon, cnn, istanbul. coming up on cnn, physical contact as we all know has been scarce this year. some inventors have had to get creative in bringing people closer to their loved ones. that story is next. just vitamin. it's a unique crafted blend of vitamins, zinc, other minerals, and herbs. take on your day with airborne.

a treat for you here. two big music stars kpieng their talents on a new version of a five-decade old hit. take a listen. ♪ ♪ and words are all i have ♪ it surely works

>> dolly parton and barry gibb rehearsing the song "words". we all know that, even if we don't remember the original, the remake was a single released friday. it's on gib's album greenfield. he says the album featured other country stars which i love. he also says singing with dolly parton was so much fun. gibb is the only survivor of the bee gees. and for months now the pandemic has forced countless people to isolate and to quarantine, robbing us all of contact with loved ones. well, that is until the hug war. we see how the co-vid-safe solution is boosting morale at a nursing home. >> reporter: these are the hugs lou waited so long for,

embracing his granddaughters and daughter through a hug wall. >> i don't know who was happier, you an your family, lou. >> i think we were both delighted to establish contact again. my granddaughter said that they actually had tears in their eyes after the hugging. it was just so nice to be close again. >> reporter: the staff saw similar inventions and wondered how to make it safe here with embroidery hoops for arm holes and shower curtains for walls sanitized between hugs. >> i was here on christmas day, and a visit was ending, and she's like i just want to hug my daughter. i'm like let's go to the hug wall. >> we've been able to make that connection. it's been lacking for nine months. >> reporter: melissa says the hug wall is also creating

something they haven't seen recently, tears of joy. >> i really feel very j very close to them. i think they feel very close to me also. so it was really very special, being able to touch each other again. >> reporter: this retired patent attorney has an idea. >> we'll write a patent on this device. >> reporter: lou has a lot to celebrate, including his upcoming birthday. >> i'm going to be 94 this coming saturday. >> reporter: hopefully we can ring in 2021 better than 2020. what do you think? >> i hope so. >> reporter: with lots and lots of hugs. >> so leave it to a pair of health care workers who took it beyond hugs, to turn a routine vaccination into a essential occasion. nurse eric was set to give his long-time partner a co-vid shot, but when the paramedic rolled up his sleeve, the nurse spotted something taped to his arm.

of course, a ring. take a look at how it played out. >> eric, you're using what? >> it's been kind of a crazy year, and -- >> oh. >> a fun ride to have you in my life. i just want to know -- >> oh, my god. is this happening? >> did you guys know? >> oh, my god. >> yay. >>. [ cheering ] >> unbelievable. >> we all need a smile and a

hug. robbie and eric say they'll plan a wedding after the pandemic subsides. >> that wraps up this hour of cnn. i'll be back in a moment with more news. stick with us. see every delivery...

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hi. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. thank you for joining me. so coming up on the show, co-vid is pushing hospitals across the u.s. to the absolute brink. we'll show how you military personnel are helping doctors in one state cope with the surge there. a group of senators trying to help detrail joe biden's victory. we ask why are they doing it?