live, from cnn center, this is cnn "newsroom" with robyn curnow. hello. welcome to our viewers here, in the united, states, and all around the world. i am robyn curnow. the latest on the coronavirus-relief negotiations and the impeachment drama surrounding donald trump, in just a moment. but first, we are following breaking news. >> this is cnn breaking news. there is political upheaval in myanmar, where the military has seized power in an

early-morning coup. the army detained other senior-government leaders for what are called election fraud. the military also declared a one-year state of emergency. well, will ripley is watching all of this unfold. will, hi. it's difficult, i know, to get information out of myanmar at the moment because a lot of comms are done. what do we know? what are you hearing from sources on the ground? given that tension has been building in recent days, between the military which wanted to delay the start of parliament, and the civilian government, which said the military's claims of widespread election fraud are unfounded and they were going to push ahead with forming the government. well, the military, then, stepped in and, all of a sudden, robyn, you have phone lines cut. internet cut. people finding it difficult to get on social media, even the tv channels that are not aligned with the military have been shut down. and now, they are showing propaganda. military propaganda, on television, for the first time in years.

you have people who are out panic buying, right now. wondering what's going to happen because this is a country that lived, for decades, under brutal-military dictatorship, that just started to form a democracy. this government that was just overthrown came into power just five years ago. they won this landslide, in november. but the election didn't go the military's way. now, there is a lot of fear and uncertainty. >> a lot of fear and uncertainty. also, what do we know about the whereabouts of suchi? >> we don't know her specific location, right now. we are not exactly sure what the conditions are of her detainment, but keep in mind, she has been in and out of house arrest. before she became the country's civilian leader for the better part of nobel peace prize but was unable to travel to accept because she was being detained and not allowed to leave the country. what's surprising to a lot of people is the fact that she was

standing up for the military at the u.n., a short time ago, defending them against genocide charges regarding the rohingya muslims who were forced out of myanmar, into bang ladesh. villages burned and reports that people were raped and murdered. >> she has lost credibility in recent years. but certainly, this is no way to deal with any of that criticism. for -- from the military's point of view. what is their endgame here? they say they are acting in accordance with the constitution but what -- what do you think is going to play out, now? >> well, we don't really know, for sure, as from the fact that they have declared a state of emergency for one year. and they are now going to take time to look into what the military claims is this widespread-election fraud, after they, their proxy party, secured just 33 seats of the open seats available in parliament. while the national league for democracy party had 396 seats.

that was a humiliatesing defeat for the military and they lost leverage in the available seats of parliament. but the way that the constitution that the military helped write is set up. the military still holds control over key-government offices. and the levers of power were, in many ways, kind of slanted in favor of the military. so, a lot of people are wondering why they would choose to do this, now. the military is claiming that, under the constitution, they have a justifiable right to step in, in this fashion, if they feel that there is election fraud that could cause political instability. although, right now, a lot of outside observers say, robyn, the instability is being caused by the government's actions, themselves. that said, even though there is coming in from a lot of democracies around the world, we are not hearing condemnation from china and russia. china, of course, a key ally of myanmar. in fact, we are getting reports there were chinese diplomats meeting with officials from the

military just within, you know, the last few days. >> okay. so we'll continue to monitor the story, continue to monitor in the next hour, as well as in the coming hours. will ripley, thanks so much for all of that information. and the u.s. has just suffered its deadliest month from covid, since the pandemic began. more than 95,000 deaths were confirmed, in january. far more than previous, record highs in december. it comes as the u.s. is seeing more cases of a variant first detected in the uk. and as for protection against the virus? nearly 50 million vaccine doses have been shipped out around the country. of those, roughly 31 million have been administered. and for the first time in almost two months, fewer than 100,000 americans are in the hospital with covid. still, the u.s. is nowhere close to being out of the woods, as natasha chen now reports. natasha. >> reporter: in some ways, americans may feel the beginning of a light at the end of the tunnel. the number of people

hospital hospitalized from covid-19 dropped below 100,000 on saturday, for the first time since december 1st. only one state, right now, louisiana, is seeing an increase in new cases compared to the previous week. and more than 30 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, so far. >> i feel i can go see my grandkids. getting a second shot, just has done wonders for me. and it really is boosted my confidence to the point where i feel that i can take on the world. >> reporter: about to turn 89, got both doses of the pfizer vaccine which showed 95% efficacy during trials. >> let me tell you something. there's nothing like having 95% on your side. >> reporter: moderna's trials did similarly well. but these modest signs of progress come amid a troubling development. in the u.s., there are more than 400 cases of the variant, first identified in the uk. >> the fact is that the surge that is likely to occur with this new variant from england is going to happen in the next six

to 14 weeks. and if we see that happen, which my 45 years in the trenches tell us we will, we are going to see something like we have not seen, yet, in this country. >> reporter: and variants, first identified in south africa and brazil have turned up in a handful of u.s. states, this week. causing some health experts some sound the alarm. >> my primary concern's that we need to do more surveillance in this nation. we actually trail our peers on this. we need to do more genomic sequencing. there are u.s. variants. we just don't know because we don't do the work to identify them. >> reporter: while new research is promising, it's not, yet, clear if those vaccinated could still get sick or even die from the variants. a troubling thought, especially as we close the month of january with the most deaths of any month, since the first-reported case in the u.s., a year ago. >> because she's asking, every day, where is my daddy? >> reporter: some families, like holly's, have lost more than one relative. in her case, her husband and

father-in-law died of covid-19, within 24 hours of each other. >> every day, i -- i wake up and i think that it's -- this nightmare's going to be over. and unfortunately, it continues on. >> reporter: natasha chen, cnn, atlanta. so, ten u.s. senate republicans are meeting with president biden in the coming hours, to discuss the latest coronavirus relief package. now, over the weekend, they pitched a much more scaled-down version of the president's nearly $2 trillion plan. here is arlette saenz with details from washington. >> reporter: the white house is indicating they are open to negotiating with senate republicans on that $1.9 trillion covid-relief package. republican senators, over the weekend, introduced their own proposal which was much smaller in scale. about $600 billion in funding, compared to that almost $2 trillion bill from the president. one thing that they are pushing for is more-targeted checks, to

go out to american families, who need it most. now, a senior-administration official said that $600 billion price tag is not going to scratch the itch of what they need to accomplish. but, one area where they are willing to negotiate and have discussions are those targeted checks to american families. right now, the white house is pushing for $1,400 checks to go out to american families. while one republican senator suggested they could go down to $1,000. now, one question, going forward, is how long president biden will give these republicans to negotiate. the president has, also, made his preference clear that he wants to pursue this in a bipartisan manner. but he has left open the -- the possibility of moving this, without republican support. he is adamant that he wants action on this measure, fast. arlette saenz, cnn, the white house. and with just about a week to go before donald trump's historic, second impeachment trial begins in the senate, the former president announced that

two new lawyers will head his legal team. this comes, after his impeachment defense team quit over a disagreement on their legal strategy. here's -- with more on all of that. >> president trump, really, having to rebuild his legal team, from scratch. announcing, on sunday evening, two new members of his legal team. a trial attorney and former-law professor, and bruce elcaster, jr. also, former district attorney in montgomery county, pennsylvania. and this announcement by the former president comes, just a few days after he split ways, after all five members of his legal team walked out and left. there had been a disagreement over the legal direction they were taking. president trump was pushing for them to make the central part of their defense the wrong claim that the election was stolen, the wrong claim that there was mass-election fraud. rather, than arguing about the legality of potentially convicting a former president

after he had left office. so, the big question, as the former president moves to make these new legal team part of his team is will they follow his lead? will they take his advice on what he wants the central theme of the defense to be? now, time is very short. and the wheels on capitol hill are already going to start turning, this week. the legal briefs will be due in the next few days. and then, of course, the trial is set to begin in the senate, next tuesday. cnn, washington. so let's talk about this with guy smith. he is a former clinton white house adviser who served as special adviser to the president during the impeachment. guy, lovely to have you on the show. i do want to get your sense. this is the second impeachment for president trump. that's historical, in itself. how do you see this playing out? >> it's going to play out with a lot of chaos and not dissimilar to the way the trump administration has been, for the last four years.

we've seen, here, in the last week, his entire legal team quit. they quit, reportedly, because trump wanted them to argue the d -- that the election was fraudulent. anyone connected to any kind of reality knows that's not the case so real lawyers declined the case. now, he's recruited two more. remains to be seen whether they've agreed to pursue this fraudulent approach. and whether they do, or not, what's going to happen when the trial opens, in a week's time, is there will be a very strong demonstration, illustration, of trump inciting an insurrection in his own government. and that is -- has not happened since the civil war. certainly, never happened with a sitting president of the united states. >> is there not the possibility for president trump and for

republicans to politically get something out of that process in the capitol? we haven't heard from the president, his twitter, he is banned from twitter. could this play into president trump's hands, in many ways? particularly, this false grievance that the election was stolen from him. and become a distraction from president biden's covid plans and -- and -- and his new administration? >> well, no question, it's a distraction. and it will -- trump will be able to generate tv attention. he'll -- he'll be on tv, again. but it won't, politically. it will -- it will weaken the republicans, and it will strengthen president biden and the democrats because, remember, the democrats control the house of representatives and the -- the united states senate. because it's 50-50. but the vice president, kamala harris, will be able to vote whenever there's a tie. that gives the democrats -- democrats control of the senate.

so, the democrats and president biden will be able -- be able to advance their agenda, on covid, on taxes, on relief for people that are in a bad way with the economy, on climate change. >> is there the chance, though, that things could change? we don't know what might be revealed. and that -- that -- that could really impact, particularly senators, republican senators' decisions. >> you're absolutely correct. and what -- think about what we didn't know, last week, and what we didn't know two weeks ago. specifically, with respect to the insurrection and the incitement of the people who stormed the capitol building. what we may find is another tape with donald trump's voice on it, like the one in georgia. where he told the people, in georgia, fix the election for me, in his own voice. if we have something like that, the dynamic could change.

and he could be convicted. and then, if he is convicted, then they can pass a resolution that prevents him from ever running for office, again. i don't think he would ever run for office, again, anyway. i think he is so weakened and damaged, politically. i mean, it's -- it's just not -- not politically viable. >> if that's the case, though, why are so many republicans finding it difficult to censor a president for inciting an insurrection, potentially from the white house against the capitol, and -- and -- and a free-and-fair election. why is it so difficult? >> because they are from states or districts that are very republican. and, you know, there are two rules in politics. first rule, get elected. second rule, let nothing get in the way of being re-elected. now, i know that sounds crass and political and it kind of is. but if you put everything through that lens, that will explain their fear.

>> and -- and a reminder that any impeachment process, even the second one, is about politics, and not law. guy smith, thank you very much. wonderful to have your perspective. thank you. >> thank you for having me. so, coming up, here, on cnn. he was a high-profile north korean diplomat mixing with the elite. until he defected with his wife and daughter. we'll have this, exclusive story, just ahead. smart comes in many forms.nw -good boy! -so we made flexpath the kind of smart that keeps up with you. with flexpath, you can earn your master's degree in 14 months for $14,000. that's the kind of smart i like. capella university -- don't just learn. learn smarter. ♪ no matter if you're young or old, tall or small,

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welcome back. it's 20 minutes past the hour. a high-level north korean diplomat is now safe in south korea. he defected with his wife and daughter, in september of 2019. but this was only made public, last week. well, let's go straight to seoul. paula hancocks joins me, now. hi, paula. so, you spoke exclusively with this -- this -- this diplomat. what did he tell you? >> well, robyn, one of the things he was most concerned about was his family, back in north korea. and the safety of his family. that's something he said he wanted to talk about, a lot. but the other thing that he did say was he had some advice for

the u.s. president joe biden. pointing out something we already know for -- for the vast majority of us. that kim jong un is unlikely to ever denuclearize. but, pointing out that, in return for u.s. for sanctions to be lifted on north korea, then potentially, there could be room for reducing nuclear capability. but the main concern he did have, from the get-go, was really the safety of his family. he told his teenaged daughter he would drive her to school. instead, he drove to the south korean embassy and claimed asylum. >> translator: i told her, come with mom and dad to find freedom. she was shocked, and then said, okay. that's all she said. >> reporter: ryu was acting ambassador to kuwait, until he defected in september 2019. part of the north korean elite. a privileged diplomat of a country that touts itself as a socialist paradise. it was a life ryu and his wife

were desperate to save their daughter from. in his first-ever interview, ryu reveals how agonizing the decision was to make. his voice cracks when he thinks of his 83-year-old mother, his wife's elderly parents and his siblings, all back in pyongyang. >> translator: i just want to see them live long. any thought of them being punished for what i have done just hurts my heart. >> reporter: north korea under kim jong un has had a policy of punishing the families of defectors, a deterrence for those wanting to flee and lifelong guilt for those who escape. ryu says he watched the 2018 summit between then-u.s. president donald trump and kim jong un while in kuwait. >> translator: as a diplomat, i thought this might be a political photo op. the u.s. can't back down from denuclearization, and kim jong un cannot denuclearize. i can't imagine they abolish

this. >> reporter: as for advice for president joe biden, ryu demurs. citing biden's lengthy-foreign policy experience. but he does believe that north korea will only consider reducing nuclear weapons, not giving them up completely. while being accepted as a nuclear state. what does kim jong un want from president biden? >> i think he wants the u.s. to lift sanctions. >> reporter: a move, ryu does not think should happen. he also wants the issue of human rights to be an important part of biden's north-korean policy. he sees biden's previous nuclear deal with iran as a sign of hope for dealing with north korea. but he does offer a reality check. >> translator: north korea's going to be more difficult than iran. >> now, while ryu does have regrets for his family back in -- in north korea. he says he doesn't have any regrets for bringing his daughter to south korea. he said the other day he asked her what she likes about south

korea, and her response was that she is able to use the internet as much as she wants. something that many of us take for granted. but something, clearly, is not easily accessible in north korea. robyn. >> no. and it's fascinating interview. what is interesting, also, this is not the first that you have reported on these high-profile defections. >> yeah. we have seen a few, over recent years. there was another one, a former diplomat in italy who came to south korea, 2019. the same year as ryu. back in 2016, he was the deputy ambassador in -- in london. and is now, in fact, part of the south korean parliament. he was elected in the most-recent election. and certainly, the -- the feeling is -- is that those who travel outside of north korea are obviously more exposed to the rest of the world. they see the north korea propaganda, in many cases, for what it is. and, of course, they do have an ability to defect that many in

north korea may not. and clearlyings, over the past , at least due to covid, we have seen boarders shut down in nort korea and markedly lower number of people able to escape the country. so certainly, there is a different position that these members of the elite are in, that these diplomats are in. that they are physically able to -- to defect far easier. >> okay. thanks so much. paula hancocks there, live in seoul. thank you. so coming up on cnn. aung san suu kyi's ruling party, now facing an alarming threat to its power. an update on the military coup in myanmar. that's next. some people say our trade-in process feels too easy. they can't believe it's 100% online and gives them a competitive offer that won't change for 7 days. an offer that they can put toward their new car. some people can't believe our friendly advocate will come to them as soon as tomorrow. drop off their new ride and whisk their old one away. because we make trading your car unbelievably easy. all so you can say...

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it's 28 minutes past the hour. i'm robyn curnow. welcome back to our viewers here in the united states, and all around the word. i want to return, now, to that coup in myanmar. the military has seized power and declared a one-year state of emergency. soldiers now surround the city hall in the country's main city. now, there are widespread communication blackouts. we know that banks are closed. panic buying has set in, with people lined up outside stores. the military detained aung san suu kyi and other party leaders, early on monday. the army disputes the results of november's election, in which the national league for democracy won. well, i want to speak to melissa craft. she is a law professor at the university of new south wales. she is also the author of "the institution of myanmar." and she joins me now, from

sydney, australia. hi. as we have been reporting, it is certainly difficult to get information out of myanmar because a lot of coms are done. but i do understand you have been in contact with a lot of people in the country. what have they been telling you? >> yeah, look, there's been intermittent communication, today. what we do know, as you say, is that the military is claiming it is playing this by the book. it says it has declared a constitutional state of emergency. this puts the commander chief in charge. and this will last for one year. surprisingly, what they have also said is that, after that year is up, they plan to hold a fresh election. >> so, what does that mean, then? i mean, they say they are acting in accordance with the constitution that they helped to write. but they are justifying their claims by saying that it was fraudulent. either way, how will that go down with the people of myanmar, right now? >> yeah. let's go back, first of all, to -- so last year, we had the elections in november, 2020.

the nld won, overwhelmingly, and since then, the military has tried every-possible avenue to dispute the outcome of the election. it's gone to the union election commission with disputes. it's gone to the supreme court. but then, this week, was really crunch time because this week was supposed to be the meeting of the new government. so, the inauguration of the new government. and instead, all of the -- the -- the members of parliament, many of the chief ministers, have been arrested. so, we know, at the moment, that at least 30 people have been arrested. but possibly, more. >> including, aung san suu kyi. and certainly, eyes on her. she has an international-global reputation. she's won the nobel peace prize but she lost a lot of credibility, in recent years, hasn't she for her deference to the military and their actions against the rohingya? many, disappointed she was not tougher, that she seemed to be walking a very fine line, making

political compromises. so, with the events now unfolding and her back in t detention, will questions be asked if she misjudged all of this or if she's been played by the very general she was trying to work with? >> well, i guess, it's a question of whether she misjudged it or whether the international community did. so, you are right, on one hand, that the rohingya, the conflict and the displacement that took place in 2016 and 2017, where hundreds of thousands of rohingya fled to bangladesh and where there was conflict. that aung san suu kyi was criticized for not going far enough, in acknowledging the humanitarian crisis and doing something concrete about it. and instead, perhaps, being seen to reinforce the military's line, really, in terms of what happened at that time. i think, now, though, there is a sense that, maybe, some of the fears that aung san suu kyi and her government had were, clearly, not unfounded.

they were clearly valid. she, herself, is, of course, a former-political prisoner. some of her government are former-political prisoners. they know what it's like to live under military rule or to be under political arrest. and we're now kind of seeing a rerun of that. >> so, the question is where is she? and the others? how will the military manage their detention? whether this will be more people arrested? and also, what is the endgame for -- for the military? >> yeah. so, at the moment, we don't know that information. the only information that's been released, today, by the military, is that the -- the vice president -- myanmar has two vice presidents. the military is saying one of those vice presidents, who happens to be a military officer, has taken on the role of the president. as a result, he's been, it appears he's then called a constitutional emergency, and that's the basis on which the commander in chief is claiming

to rule. we don't know where aung san suu kyi is. there are some reports or some concerns on social media that, perhaps, there are fake accounts trying to encourage nld supporters to go to the streets. but those -- those incitement, i guess, if you like to go to the streets, appears to be false. and appears to suggest the military, in fact, wants people to go to the streets so that it, then, can crack down and show that perhaps there is a need for force in the situation. >> okay. thanks for the latest on that coup in myanmar. melissa craft there in sydney. appreciate it. thanks for joining us here on cnn. thank you. >> thanks. so, world health organization team has expanded its coronavirus investigation into wuhan. after the break, a live report on their visit to a market at the very center of that outbreak. we have that story, and, of course, we will continue to monitor events in myanmar. what u need to help you lose weight! more simplicity with the what's in your fridge?

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so, demonstrators, as you can see here, across europe, gathering over the weekend to protest coronavirus restrictions. police in brussels say they arrested more than 200 people during unauthorized gatherings. protestors are angry about a national curfew and a ban on nonessential trips in and out of the country. in vienna, police in riot gear stopped thousands of marchers before they could reach the president's office. austria has been in its third national lockdown for than a month. and a team led by the world health organization visited a s seafood market in wuhan, china. the market has long been closed to the public and the w.h.o. team plans to conduct two wes of field work hasso as part of the

investigations into the virus. hi, steven. i mean, it's great that this team is there on the ground. but it's a year in. after those first cases. highly-politicized visit. what can they expect to get? what kind of information can they get, now? >> robyn, the kind of question you asked were very much on everyone's mind, even before this began. but so far, these experts have been highlighting positive and encouraging signs and aspects from this trip. including the visit to the seafood market, as you mentioned. i it's been closed for a year. and repeatedly, disinfected. so, what kind of firsthand evidence these experts could collect, at this point, very much in doubt. but they said, these experts have told cnn, being there at this point gave them a sense at the state of the market, in terms of its infrastructure, maintenance, hygiene, and flow of goods and people because all the shops and equipment are still there. and also, they were able to talk to locals, workers, as well as

public-health officials, who actually had collected environmental samples from the market back then. so, these officials were able to tell the experts where and how they collected these evidence. now, the experts had, also, been given important data regarding flu-like diseases in and around wuhan in the months leading up to december, 2019. so, potentially, offering them more clues about the origins of the virus. so, the experts have been saying the chinese authorities have been transparent and helpful. although one member did note, she hoped to see future visits in the coming days conducted in smaller groups because it have been very challenging to -- a relationship with the interviewees with a large delegation sitting around. so these members, obviously, very keenly aware their entire investigation under a global spotlight. they don't want to talk about politics. but sometimes, it's not easy to get politics out of this because, for example, they have been offered a trip to the exhibition touting the communist party's success in containing this virus. robyn.

steven jiang there in beijing. thanks so much for joining us. really appreciate it. so you are watching cnn "newsroom." i'm robyn curnow. for our international viewers, world sport is next. for our viewers here, in the united states, i'll have more news, after this quick break. at capella university, we know the world is pretty smart. wicked smart. so we made flexpath smart enough that you can finish the bachelor's degree in business you've started in 18 months for $18,000. that's smart. capella university. don't just learn. learn smarter.

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welcome back. i'm robyn curnow. so, in new york city, a new report shows an alarming disparity among those who have received covid vaccine doses. so far, the number of white new yorkers who receive their first dose is more than double that of black and latino residents. evan mcmorris-santoro explains how the city plans to level the playing field. evan. >> reporter: new data shows that the vaccine distribution system may be falling prey to the overall health-care system in the city. the data shows white people are getting the vaccine at a much

higher rate than the rate of the population. whereas, black and latino people are getting at a much lower rate than the rate of the population. speaking at a press conference on sunday, mayor bill de blasio said these numbers, while they are early, are very concerning. >> but, the information we do have shows clear disparity. clearly, what we see is a particularly pronounced reality of many more people from white communities getting vaccination, than folks from black and latino communities. >> reporter: a case in point is a vaccine-distribution center in washington heights in northern manhattan. this place was set up, specifically, to serve latino population. but our own reporting at cnn has shown that that distribution site was overwhelmingly serving white people, and not the local population. i spoke with the city councilman from the area about the numbers. >> tragically, i can't say i am surprised but it is,

nonetheless, shocking. because, throughout this pandemic, inequality has been revealed and exacerbated. and as painful as it is, it's not a surprise to see it happen again, now. but this should shock the conscience of new york city, and should force us to act in concrete ways, that ensure no one is left behind in this vaccination program. >> reporter: councilman levine is advocating setting aside special hours at the vaccine-distribution site for the local population. doing a better job of going out and speaking to the population. in essence, not just plopping the vaccine location in the geographic area needed to find the population that's underserved but actively going out to serve that underserved population. without doing steps like that, levine and other city officials say this vaccine-distribution system may never be fair, in new york city. evan mcmorris-santoro, cnn, new york. >> thanks, everyone, for that. so, across the country, covid deaths are skyrocketing among latinos particularly in

southern california. the los angeles county health department says virus deaths for latinos have shot up by more than a thousand percent, since november. a health official quoted the l.a. times and called it, frankly, horrifying. well, david hayes is the director of the ucla center for the study of latino health and culture. and his research focuses on why the latino community bears the brunt of the pandemic in southern california. great to have you on the show. >> pleasure. pleasure to be here. >> lovely to see you. why -- why is the latino community bearing the brunt here? >> well, in large part, because latinos have a very high work -- they have been essential workers, not the physicians and nurses but they are the farm workers that give us the food. truck drivers, food-service workers, construction workers. latinos have more wage earners per household than non-hispanic and white household. so you have more people leaving every day being exposed possibly bringing coronavirus in. twice as likely to have

children. you have more people living in closed environment with more exposure. anybody, any population that lived in those situations would have much higher rates of exposure, hence case rates and death rates for latinos tends to occupy that space here in southern california. >> so, essentially, what you are saying is that latinos are being punished for living and working hard. >> basically, yes. they are being punished for working hard and keeping the state fed. and they're punished for having families, which many other populations -- and covid has very opportunely snuck into their households and latinos are paying the price. >> describe what the scenes are like. you painted a very poignant picture of what it's been like living there in southern california over the past few months. even when the death rate sky rockets in communities like yours to a thousand percent more than others. there is, still, a joyous community life. and people aren't listening to a lot of the messaging. why is that? >> well, the messaging is very, very confused and garbled.

you have to remember, in california, we actually had flattened the curve, back in april and early may. then, the messaging got very confused from washington, d.c. you have had outright resistance. usually, not in latino communities but in particularly upper-income, non-hispanic/white communities. so it is a very confusing situation. and many latinos do work, for example, in stores where customers come in and refuse to practice any major social distancing or mask wearing. so again, it just exposes the hard-working population, more, to the coronavirus. >> so how has this hit the communities. give us descriptions of what people have been saying to you and how devastating? >> it's been quite devastating. i was at a hospital in east l.a. where families have lost multiple members of the same family. you tend to have large families living multiple generations under one roof. it's hard to isolate when you

only have one bathroom for eight people because of the high cost of housing here in california. it's a perfect storm. the strong social networks work against latinos in terms of coronavirus. >> and how has misinformation, not just confusion, played into this? >> well, clearly there is misinformation out on the internet. we have been trying to track that. it doesn't help that anti-vaxxers shut down a site at dodgers stadium. we have a mess, disinformation, bad information, lack of information, plus lack of insurance. it's a perfect storm:con verging together. latino families. >> you talk about paying the

price. what is the response to the vaccine and how equitable do people feel like it's going to be when it's distributed, how it's being distributed on the ground right now? >> it's being distributed 5% of the state of california's population has been vaccinated. there are huge discrepancies in who gets the vaccine. there are multiple cases of those who are well off. there's lack of information, particularly in the spanish language media. it's hard to get an appointment for a shot if you don't have a desktop computer. everything is working against latinos getting vaccinated. that was the one key to try to get this under control. we need to have much higher, 70, 80% vaccination rate in the general population. >> which means it's going to be a long year if it's just 35%. do you feel optimistic that

attitudes might change, more equitable rollout as well? >> i certainly hope so. right now it's very disrounted. county level services have been making a lot of the policy here in california because we have had very weak national policy. so we have a hopscotch pattern of access to the vaccination depending which county, which knew nis pat you riff in. >> my pleasure. >> good luck. >> thank you, good night. >> good night. 75 million americans with winter storm warnings with a powerful nor'easter. many cities will see several inches of snow along the east coast. new york to get over a foot. let's go to pedram javaheri. the early pictures look pretty

but it doesn't last when it piles up. >> the amount of snow you noted here, over a foot. this is a significant amount even for northeast u.s. standards. stretching over 1,000 miles of land from eastern tennessee all the way towards northern maine. then you look carefully at the level of concern here, the top of the charts there. the colors, contours of purple around new york city. that's indicative of a level 5 concern or extreme impact around new york city, heavy snow, strong winds, blizzard like conditions. power outages to boot along a very densely populated region. preemptively before sunrise, flights on the order of 1300 have been canceled around the northeastern united states and by volume and percentage here, you notice laguardia, new york, jfk airports, 70 to 80% of the

flights have already been halted across that region. notice this, in the meantime you have wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour in new york city on top of a couple feet of snow potentially, that's a major snow system. this is a classic nor'easter from monday potentially to tuesday before conditions finally gradually improve come wednesday. the elements are in place for ice to accumulate, heavy snowfall. when you see the storm system park off shore later this morning, linger here through tuesday afternoon and evening. the back side of this you get a significant draw of moisture from the atlantic. it could pile on to well over a foot of snowfall. new york city could see 14 to 20 inches. records back since the 1860s. if 18 inches come down it would be a top ten all time snowstorm in over 150 years of

recordkeeping. folks in boston saying they will be plowing 2 thousand lane miles within the next 24 to 48 hours. that's the equivalent of boston to denver being plowed as a result of this impressive snowstorm here. >> that's quite astounding. pedram javaheri, thank you for the update. white house is taking advantage of the snowstorm in washington. u.s. president joe biden's granddaughter, champ and major playing in the snow on the white house lawn. you can see the washington monument there on the background. they are the first bets to live in the white house since the obama administration. thanks so much for watching. i'm robin keyn curnow. it's been great talking to you.

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hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom" and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, myanmar is under military control after the army staged a coup and detained the country's top leaders. we are live in hong kong with the very latest. the u.s. president is set to meet with republicans today. we'll tell you how far apart they are on a covid relief deal. and a powerful form is set to bury parts of the eastern united states in