♪ 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, president joe biden takes questions from the public for the first time since taking office and pledges a coronavirus vaccine for every american by july. plus, shivering in the dark, millions of people are still without power as winter weather takes a deadly toll. and living in fear. why many asian-americans believe

they have become targets for hate. good to have you with us. well from covid-19 to economic relief to domestic terrorism, u.s. president joe biden fielded a wide range of questions from voters for the first time since taking office during cnn's town hall hosted by anderson cooper. the topic that dominated the night, the coronavirus pandemic. mr. biden was asked about the availability of vaccines. >> when is every american who wants it, going to be able to get a vaccine? >> by the end of july of this year. we have -- we came into office. there was only 50 million doses that were available. we have now, by the end of july,

we'll have over 600 million doses, enough to vaccinate every single american. we got in office and found out the supply -- there was no backlog -- i mean, there was nothing in the refrigerator, figuratively and literally speaking. and there were 10 million doses a day available. we've upped that in the first three weeks in office to significantly more than that. we moved out, went to the pfizer and moderna and said can you produce more vaccine and more rapidly. and not only agreed to go from 400 to 600 million doses. and got them to move up the time because we used the national defense act to be able to help the manufacturing piece of it. to get more equipment and so on. >> so, if end of april -- excuse me, end of july, they're available to actually get them in the arms of people who want them that will take, what, a

couple more months? >> well, no, a lot will be vaccinated in the meantime. >> okay. >> in other words, it's not like all of a sudden 600 million doses are going to appear. what's going to happen, it will continue to increase as we move along. >> mr. biden spoke to the key questions on the minds of so many, when might life finally get back to normal. here was his take. >> it's a high probability that the vaccinations that are available today and the new one, johnson & johnson, god willing, will prove to be useful, that with those vaccinations, the ability to continue to spread the disease is going to diminish considerably because of what they call herd immunity. and now they're saying somewhere around 70% of the people have to constitute -- some people say 50, 60. but a significant number have to be in a position where they have

been vaccinated and/or they've been through it and -- >> -- have antibodies. >> -- have antibodies, so if that works that way as my mother would say, with the grace of god and goodwill of neighbors, by next christmas, we'll number a different willing circumstance, god willing, than we are today. i think a year from now, when it's 22 below zero here -- no, a year from now, i think there will be significantly fewer people having to be socially distanced, have to wear a mask. et cetera, but we don't know. >> and cnn's kaitlan collins was in milwaukee for the president's town hall. she has more on mr. biden's plan for combatting and ending the pandemic. >> reporter: this is president biden's first time interacting directly with voters since

taking office. he was here in milwaukee for that first town hall for cnn, of course, the number one topic was the covid pandemic ranging still throughout the country. and president biden said he believes that deadline for every american who wants to get a vaccine will be able to get one by the end of july. he had an important caveat, that does not mean every american will have one by the end of july. he said they will have 600 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine. and, of course, the next challenge of that is getting those administered in the arms of americans dealing with the vaccinators and vaccine hesitancy. so, you heard him tonight, he was talking about his covid-19 relief plan making its ways through the hall of congress, but also the other major topic in the country right now which is the reopening the schools. and president biden said it was a miscommunication when you heard an official from his white house recently say is that their goal of having a majority of

schools open by his first 100 days an office meant kids being in school one day a week at a minimum. that not his goal, he wants k through 8, the majority of those schools over by the end of his first 100 days in office. he believes that's something he can achieve. and high school is an option and a chance that summer school could be an option. not a ton of clarity there. and still for the health officials whether or not that's going to be likely and whether or not schools should be open right now. there is president biden clarifying that time line. those are the big questions when it comes to the pandemic, of course, he was asked several other topics, foreign policy, china, here at home. a recent conversation in recent days since the january 6th riot. this was the first time taking questions from voters. we should note he is hitting the road again as he goes to

michigan on thursday as he continues to try to sell this big $1.9 trillion plan directly to voters, instead of just to lawmakers in washington, d.c. kaitlan collins, cnn, traveling with the president in milwaukee. joining us now is cnn white house correspondent john harwood. good to see you, john. president biden went to try to sell the $1.9 trillion covid bill. how did he do? >> he did quite well. he was selling himself which he did by connecting in a skillful way with the audience, including a second grader on hand. making sure he connected with the individual stories of people does asking him questions and that covid relief bill which is already pretty popular, if you look at the polling. but he was making that argument in a swing state wisconsin.

like the republican lawyers for donald trump in the impeachment trial, he needs only to appeal to his own side right now. because it appears that he's going to do this with democratic folks only. so, he's trying to unite his party. and in fact, when he got a question about donald trump impeachment, he said he didn't even want to talk about president trump. take a listen. >> before the senate voted to acquit the former president in the impeachment trial, you said you were anxious to see if republican senators would stand up. only seven did. house speaker nancy pelosi called the rest cowards. do you agree with her? >> i'm not going to call names out, i -- look, i, for four years, all that's been in the news is trump. the next four years, i want to make sure all of the news is the american people. i'm tired of that. it's done. >> and rosemary, that's part of the key appeal of joe biden

during the campaign. he wanted to convey a calmer, more stable, more sober presence than donald trump. and he certainly exerted a lot of effort to do that tonight. and i think he succeeded. >> cnn white house correspondent john harwood, many thanks. well, we will have much more on the biden town hall with cnn later this hour. but first, let's get to our other top story. america's deep freeze. about 105 million americans are under winter storm alerts, as dangerous, frigid temperatures grip much of the country. the weather is blamed for at least 26 deaths and widespread power outages. almost three quarters of the mainland u.s. was covered in snow in the past 24 hours. and millions of people are dealing with how to stay warm right now, without electricity. and you can see the windchill has plunged temperatures to arctic levels, many of those without power are in texas, a

state not used to such brutal cold. the governor of texas is slamming the agency that o oversees the bulk of the state's electrical grid. >> power generators froze up, and their equipment was incapable of generating power. and then on top of that, the natural gas that flows into those powered generators, that has frozen up also. so that is an act of nature. however, what ercot should have been able to do is have backups in place. >> and texas officials warn the wintry conditions could get even worse. cnn's ed lavandera has more from dallas. >> reporter: millions of texans are once again spending a brutal and dangerously cold night in their homes, this is because there are still millions of

people without electrical power in their homes. this is the third night in a row that power is still out to millions of homes across the state because of this winter storm that blew in sunday night into the state. there is another storm expected to come through on wednesday as well. but the question remains when will the electrical system be back up to full strength to get people the ability to warm up their homes. and as hard as it may seem to believe, we just don't have a clear answer at this point. we spoke with the chief executive of the texas power grid on tuesday who said they hoped to restore power on tuesday and wednesday, it's not clear that's going to happen. we've heard from local and state officials who seem to suggest that there are other issues at play here. the governor is saying that natural gas pipelines are frozen. so it could take longer to restore that power. and get that power into the system, so that people can warm up their homes. the bottom line is here, we just don't have any answers as to

when the full strength of the texas electrical system will be back up and running so that millions of people don't have to spend another night in the dangerous cold once again. ed lavandera, cnn, dallas, texas. and cnn meteorologist pedram javaheri is tracking all of this weather now. he joins us now, pedram, people are suffering with this deep freeze. and when will it likely be over? >> you know, it looks like we're finally getting towards the midpoint of this extensive cold weather threatened we've seen in the last week or so. over the next week or three days, a gradual shift in temperatures, the next seven to ten days potentially getting above average in a large portion of the u.s. so we'll end with that here in a few minutes. but i want to show you with the temperatures widespread 15 to 40 degrees below average this time of year. by wednesday afternoon, oklahoma city there be about 38 degrees

below what is normal for this time of year, with high temperatures only in the single digits in some of these others. of course, the damage has done. you take a look at 45 of the lower 48 states across the u.s. have snow on the ground. you look at the coverage area of this, about 73% of the lower 48 states with snow on the ground which is an all-time record since the record began in 2003. again, parts of eight states dealing with widespread outages. 4 million customers. you take that number. taking into account, generally three to four people per customer. possibly, 10 to 16 million people without power. a large number of those comes out of areas across the lone star state. unfortunately, that is exactly with the next weathermaker in place. anytime you see the color predictions here of white and purple, that's indicative of freezing rain. the white is all snow coming

down. 100 millions still under winter weather alerts so essentially the same pattern that led us here with arctic air, freezing rain, record snows and very cold temperatures are all in place here for another system to essentially produce this, yet again, across the very similar area. another quarter inch to maybe half an inch. some areas potentially getting close to one inch of ice secretion. and a lot of areas seeing historic temperatures and historic snowfall through the next two days. really, where conditions are set to improve is when we get to, say, friday, saturday and sunday. the system didn't initially producer snow showers around the northeast. notice the yellow or orange in the forecast, that's indicative of temperatures climbing up into the 60s, maybe the 70s. rosemary, we go to houston, 36 and snow showers today to close

to middle 60s by tuesday of next week. big time warming potentially for next week. >> that is more like it, right? we like those temperatures. pedram javaheri, many thanks for bringing us up to date on the situation. in myanmar, a defiant rejection of military coup, thousands of protesters are jamming the streets and there are growing fears of violence. and later, we will have more from cnn's town hall with president joe biden, including his pitch for big stimulus spending. back in a moment.

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a massive show of opposition. the u.n. special rapporteur for myanmar said he's terrified of the potential for violence if protesters and troops confront each other. our paula hancocks joins us live from seoul. good to see you, paula. so, a lot of concern, of course, what the military might do next. what more are you learning about what's happening on the ground there? >> reporter: well, rosemary from protesters that we're talking to and from live streams that we can see what's happening on the ground there are massive crowds in yangon. activists have been calling for millions to come out and call for aung san suu kyi to come out and we know that there are increased military presence that could be some force used later. now, you mentioned the u.n.

special repuapporteur for human rights, pointing out, he said there are reports of troops brought into yangon from the outlying areas. he said, when that's happened in the past that has led to violence. so, certainly, there are concerns, we spoke to one protester on the ground. a 26-year-old male who doesn't want to be identified for fear of repercussions. and he said that he is constantly angry at this point, what has happened, this military coup that has displaced the democratically elected government. also saying that he is sleeping in different houses every single night for fear of being arrested. there are these nighttime arrests as the internet is being shut down that have really spooked people in many of these cities. and also saying that he actually has more fear of being arrested than of being shot. so what we've also seen on the

streets is not just the increased military presence, but the but the nature of the nature of the troops there. it the division that human right activists say have been accused over the years. they're believed to be the ones heavily involved in the crackdown in 2017. that violent crackdown in rakhine state with rohingya militants. and they're saying they're nasty. they're saying that they have a very nasty reputation. that's adding to the fear that you have the military elements, this particular battalion under the military chief as well. rosemary. >> many thanks to our paula hancocks joining us there live.

we have more news just coming into cnn, armed men have raided a school in nigeria in the state. at least one person is feared dead and dozens of students have been abducted. the raid took place at a secondary school. it happened about 2:00 a.m. local time. it's not known how many students are missing but the school's boarding facility was known to house hundreds of school children. a local resident told cnn, one student was killed by gunmen. we will, of course, bring you more details on this story as they come in. america's economic crisis and president biden's proposed $1.9 trillion covid relief package were key topics during last night's cnn town hall. mr. biden explained the urgency of taking swift action now.

>> the overwhelming consensus is, in order to grow the economy, a year, two, three and four down the line, we can't spend too much. now is the time we should be spending. now's the time to go big. look at all of the people. you have over 10 million people unemployed. we need unemployment insurance. we need to make sure, you know, you have 40% of the children in america, talk about food shortage. 60% -- did you ever think you'd see a day in mill ware you'd see in the last six months, people lining up in their automobiles for an hour, as far as you can see, to get a bag of food? i mean, this is the united states of america, for god's sake. we can't deal with that? we promised -- look at all of the people on the kicked out of their apartments because they cannot afford the

rent. what happens when that happens? look at all of the mom and pop landlords in real trouble if we don't subsidize this in the meantime. look at all of the people on the verge of missing, how many people have missed their last two mortgage payments and able to be foreclosed on. that's why i took executive action to say they cannot be foreclosed on in the meantime. look at the impact on the economy. you think it's bad now, let all of that happen. >> and the u.s. has now administered more than 55 million covid vaccine doses nationwide. and president biden says the rollout will continue to improve. but this week, the vaccine drive faced significant setbacks because of severe winter storms that delayed shipments. cnn's nick watt has more. >> this is a little bit. >> reporter: snow and subzero temperatures. slowing vaccinations from

illinois to texas and delaying the delivery of doses. >> sometimes by a day. sometimes by two days. >> reporter: a momentary blip. >> the critical issue is that the demand far outweighs the supply, that's the issue. >> reporter: dr. fauci had said everyone would be eligible for a shot by the end of april. now says johnson & johnson will deliver fewer initial doses than the administration thought. so -- >> that time line will probably be prolonged maybe into mid to late may and early june. but it may take until june, july and august to finally get everyone vaccinated. >> reporter: new case counts and hospitalizations are falling faster now than any point in this pandemic. >> we just got to be careful about getting too excited about that because we do have the challenge of variants. >> reporter: that faster spread variant first identified in south africa, now detected in

eight u.s. states. the variant first found in the uk now confirmed in 40. we're told masks and mitigation still required to keep overall case counts falling. >> we've got to continue until we get it so low that it's no longer a threat. >> reporter: but is complacency creeping in? despite warnings not to, more than 5 million people flew in the five days over the holiday weekend. this newly opened vaccination site in east los angeles run jointly by fema and the governor of california's office, they hope, when they're up to capacity later this week, to be delivering 6,000 shots a day into people's arms. this, what it looks like on the ground, when president biden and his team say they want to speed up the vaccine rollout. nick watt, cnn, los angeles. just ahead on cnn, president

biden addresses major concerns about coronavirus variants. and their owe potential impact on vaccines. back with that in just a moment. beds get sick too protection. lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of illness-causing bacteria detergents leave behind. proven to kill covid-19

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♪ welcome back, everyone. well, u.s. president joe biden clearly didn't want to overpromise, but he said he is hopeful american life will return to normal by christmas. mr. biden offered his time line during a cnn town hall event tuesday evening. he also provided encouraging predictions about covid-19 vaccinations. he said that the u.s. will have

600 million vaccine doses by the end of july, enough for every american. and he also addressed concerns about coronavirus variants. >> thus far, there is no evidence that the existing vaccinations available for moderna and pfizer do not either make sure that they apply -- they work as well against the strain in the united states. and there is no evidence that they're not helpful. so, if you can get a vaccination, get it whenever you can get it. regardless of the other strains that are out there. there are studies going on to determine it's not only communicable, but are there vaccines do not provide helpful protection by getting the

vaccine. there's some speculation, i've got to be very careful because millions of people are watching this, it may be that a certain vaccination for a certain strain may reduce from 95% to a lower percentage of certainty that it will keep you from getting -- >> it may not be as effective? >> it might not be as effective. >> -- against the variants but still be effective. >> against -- and still be effective. the clear notion is, if it's available, if you're able, get the vaccine. get the vaccine. >> with us now is the former u.s. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. she's also the former governor of kansas. an honor to have you with us. >> thank you. nice to be with you. >> so president biden's goal after cnn's town hall was to refocus the nation on the pandemic and sell his $1.9

trillion covid relief bill to the public. what was your assessment of how well he did that? >> well, i think it was a great forum for president biden, he loves to engage with the public. and i think he clearly was enthusiastic about making the trip to milwaukee. back to wisconsin, a very cutting-edge state. and he was able to focus the conversation on not just covid and what's happening with vaccinations and school openings but to really focus on the relief package that is so important for congress to pass and pass quickly. given the fact that a lot of people's benefits will run out at the end of march. and i think he did a great job clarifying what's in the bill and pressing the urgency of the issue. >> and we also learned from president biden that by the end of july, vaccines will be made available to all americans. that is a different time line, though, to what we heard from dr. anthony fauci who just moved

the date to early june. many people will have already have been vaccinated in the meantime, of course. but do all of these altered time lines confuse people and impact trust. or do you think the american people understand the difficulties involved here? >> well, i think it's frustrating because a lot of people would like to be vaccinated tomorrow. and there clearly is not enough vaccine. i think what both dr. fauci and the president are doing is trying to tell the american public as clearly as possible what they know. how fast we can get both the moderna and the pfizer vaccine into the arms of americans. the good news is that the president secured another 200 million doses of these very effective vaccines so that we will have enough doses for 600 million doses to be administered. that's basically the entire united states getting the

two-dose reguimen. that's great news. the vaccine is ramping up and rolling out gradually. and i think what you're hearing from dr. fauci and the president is, as soon as it's ready to roll, they're going to roll it out. they're going to mobilize a more massive effort. they're trying to make sure that the national government is being involved in rapid distribution and larger vaccination sites in mobilizing vaccinators, people who will actually give the shots. all of that is good news. but we won't have the vaccine as quickly as many people want it, which is immediately. it won't all be produced at once. >> yeah. i mean, they do have to be careful not to overpromise now to deliver. >> you bet. >> there's no doubt about that. so, another big top take president biden was pressed on was the safe opening of schools during this pandemic. asked about his plans to get

kids back to school, he said protective gear was critical to everyone, of course. smaller teaching pods. kindergarten through eighth grade can be sent back easier because they don't transmit the virus as much as high school students. and the big head line is that he feels all teachers need to be vaccinated, versus what the cdc is saying, that is not necessary. again, a mixed message here. what do people need to make of all of this? >> well, i think there are really two messages. the cdc said it isn't essential for all teachers to be vaccinated. i think what teachers are saying in lots of places and custodians and bus drivers and others is, as adults susceptible to the virus, they really feel that if they're going to go back to work with full classes and gear, they should be vaccinated. >> and our thanks there to former u.s. health and human

services secretary kathleen sebelius. well, investors are keeping an eye for any stimulus news today. as markets are poised to hit fresh records. oil and cryptocurrency prices driving the big gains by bitcoin with another milestone. let's bring in john defterios. marketing editor. good to see you again, john. what did this mean for the market and momentum holds? >> holding pattern is what we've seen in the stock market today, rosemary. but it's contrary when it comes to bitcoin and oil. we had a surge of better than 51,000 in bitcoin. now down to 41,000. as you take a look, there is new demand for this daugthis curren. by the way, at this time in march 2020 that was trading

around 5,000. 10 times the return. that's a whopper of a fat return, of course. in the wider course, president biden in the town hall talked about the $1.9 trillion stimulus package but said there's a direct correlation with job creation. he said we can re-create 7 million jobs over the next year after losing 10 million, if we can get that stimulus package through. this is feeding into inflationary concerns out there because there's so much money chasing assets. as we take a look at u.s. futures they're trading pretty flat. asia was down not substantially. but people are wondering where we go next. but when it comes to the commodity market with the massive storm in the united states, particularly hitting texas hard, the largest oil producing state, and oil trading above $60 a barrel. and we crossed $64 on the

international benchmark and creeping slightly lower but there is a concern about fuelling inflation. and this is a special case, of course, because of oil, because of that massive storm knocking out about a fifth of u.s. oil protecti production right now. >> john defterios joining us from abu dhabi. many thanks. and former president trump is mitch mcconnell calling him a hack and warned other republicans not to support him. trump's attack coming just days after mcconnell delivered a blistering speech against trump after the impeachment trial is further exposing a growing rift inside the republican party. cnn's ryan noble picks up the story. >> reporter: the statement by the former president in many ways is a worst case scenario for republicans in their hopes to unify the party ahead of the 2022 midterms.

the statement comes after the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell did vote to acquit the president in the recent impeachment trial but then went on to hammer trump's role in the january 6th insurrection. first in a speech after the vote and in an op-ed that ran in "the wall street journal" on tuesday morning. trump responded, quote, the republican party can never again be respected or considered strong with political leaders in quotes like senate mitch mcconnell at its helm. mitch is a dour sullen, unsmiling political hack. i will back many primary rivals who espouse making america great again and our policy of america first. and mcconnell said how the

former president and still remains popular among his base. and this is him saying that he is going to get involved in the 2022 primary races and back candidates who showed their loyalty to him and his agenda. it's clear that mitch mcconnell believes that may not be a winning formula in general elections. so this is going to be a big problem for republicans that plays out over the next two years. do they side with trump? or do they side with mitch mcconnell and the wing of the party that would like to put trump in the rear view mirror? ryan nobles, cnn, washington. zb and still to come, growing concerns how the growing pandemic may be growing hate in the united states with the attacks on asian-americans. that's next.

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seeing a rise in hate crimes against asian-americans. thousands of incidents from verbal attacks to physical assaults have been reported. rights groups say the problem has gone on far too long, and they're demanding immediate action. cnn's kyung lah has more. and a warning some viewers may find images in this report disturbing. ♪ happy birthday dear grandpa ♪ >> reporter: turning 84 was a milestone for that this man and his family. >> ooh, happy birthday, grandpa. >> reporter: the san francisco grandpa had just received the vaccine and stayed healthy from the pandemic. walking for an hour every morning. in his neighborhood. it was on his walk when an unprovoked attacker. >> how did you find out what happened to your father? >> he told me, the officer

answered the phone and then he told us like, they found him, got assault. he never wake up again. i never see him again. >> reporter: a 19-year-old suspect is charged with murder and elder abuse. his family calls it something else. >> this wasn't driven by economics. this was driven by hate. >> reporter: his death is part of the surge and reported attacks against asian-americans during the pandemic. in oakland, a man walked up behind say 91-year-old man and threw him to the ground, one of more than 20 assaults and robberies like this one. in oakland's chinatown. in portland, more than a dozen asian-owned businesses in recent weeks have been vandalized. these incidents are not new. in new york, the mta retweeted this video of what they call racism.

this man phrased febreze at an asian-american on the subway promising an investigation. an attack of 2800 anti-asian incidents since december of last year. like this one in california. before the election, this man invoked president trump. >> you need to leave. >> reporter: the then president's words -- >> china virus, kung flu -- >> reporter: have lasting impact said this professor russell chung who tracked the incidents through stop hate because no governmental agency would. >> mainstream society doesn't believe we faced racism. we need to document this is happening. >> reporter: identify and change them says this group of bay area volunteers, offering escorts for the elderly. and offering a bridge to those who may not even know how to

talk to the police. >> we want to take that rage and do something. like what can i do? and this is what we're doing. >> reporter: the man's daughter spent the last year ignoring what people said to her. >> you bring the covid screaming state on us, but we just walk away. >> reporter: she won't do that anymore. >> we've got to proud and we protect a lot of people in the city and the whole country. >> reporter: san francisco police have not charged the suspect of the man's murder with a hate crime because as in many of these situations, it's difficult to prove. activists believe incidents of hate against arsian-americans i the country are higher often when you consider the community is often immigrant and has language barriers.

kyung lah, cnn, los angeles. you're watching "cnn newsroom." north korea has been accused of trying to hack a coronavirus vaccine maker and steal its secrets. but now that report is being denied. we'll have a live report. of course, podcasts. originals. bestsellers. future bestsellers. sleep stories. mal- hey, no! roxy! audiobooks, podcasts, audible originals. - grammarly business helps my company all in one place. build higher performing sales teams. since simon's team started using grammarly business to sharpen their writing, we've closed more deals. learn more at grammarly.com/business.

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welcome back, everyone. well, new zealand is planning thursday to begin rolling back the coronavirus restrictions it quickly put in place last sunday. it comes as officials work to contain a small cluster of new cases connected to just one family. the government will be reducing restrictions in auckland to its second lowest level and the rest of the country will be reduced to level one. well, now to serious allegations against north korea. a south korean lawmaker says pyongyang successfully hacked drugmaker pfizer to try to steal technology linked to coronavirus vaccines. but now, we are hearing that may not be the case. will ripley is following this story for us from hong kong. he joins us now live. good to see you, will. so, what more are you learning about the real story behind this?

>> reporter: well, what happened in south korea, rosemary, the nis, the national intelligence service gives confidential briefings to lawmakers who write down notes and then sometimes leak information to the press. so you have the south korea lawmaker who posted one of the notes that he wrote alleging that north korean hackers targeted the u.s. biotech company pfizer which has made one of the successful covid-19 vaccines and he has doubled down on this. he said i heard them talk about pfizer. pfizer was hacked, this made big headlines but then nis turned around and said they never mentioned pfizer. they talked about other south korean companies that have hacked and basically denied the south korean lawmaker's claim which he then doubled down on when cnn followed up with them. regardless whether they mentioned pfizer or not one thing is clear time and time again. north korean hackers do seem to be, indeed targeting biotech companies. and also astrazeneca working on

vaccines. north korea at the time told cnn that was fake news. microsoft was told of north korea targeting companies using their cyberarm, believed to be one of the most substantial in the world the u.s. considers them on par with russia and china which is extraordinary for a country as small and destitute as north korea, it does show the investment and commitment to cybercrimes, allegedly, rosemary, stealing $316 million over the course of the last year. >> will ripley, many thanks joining us live from hong kong. before we go, a touching moment from tuesday's cnn town hall with president joe biden. it came after a mother standing with her young daughter expressed her childrens' concerns about getting covid-19. >> are you in first grade? second grade? >> second. >> oh, you're getting old. [ laughter ] >> second grade. well, is your school -- have you been in school, honey? >> no.

>> no? see, that's kind of a scary thing, too. you don't get to go to school. you don't get to see your friends. so, what a lot of kids, and i mean, big people, too. older people, they just -- their whole lives have sort of changed like what it used to be. it used to be just go outside, play with your friends and get in a school bus and go to school, everything was normal. now, when things change, people get really worried and scared. but don't be scared, honey. you're going to be fine. we're going to make sure mommy's fine, too. >> comforting america there. thank you so much for your company. i'm rosemary church. we will have much more from president biden's cnn town hall coming up on "early start." that's next. you're watching cnn. have a wonderful day.

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♪ welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this is "early start." i'm laura jarrett. >> good morning, laura. i'm christine romans. it is wednesday, february 17th, exactly 5:00 a.m. in the east. and americans await two pivotal lifelines. a vaccine shot in the arm and a metaphorical shot in the arm from the president's economic rescue plan. president biden addressed both in the trip to the swing state of wisconsin for a cnn stoun h town hall, a first trip as president.