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 -- >> we have to resist becoming

numb to the sorrow. >> 500 candles, each marking 1,000 lives lost. more than half a million americans have died from covid-19, a staggering loss marked in a moment of empathy at the white house. the u.s. supreme court deals a blow to the former president's legal case allowing a new york prosecutor to obtain donald trump's tax returns. and later, neighbors and allies meet but justin trudeau and joe biden may not see eye to eye on everything, including global vaccine distribution. good to have you with us. it has been just over one year since the coronavirus was

detected here in the united states, and since then a heartbreaking half a million lives have been lost to the virus. the deadly disease striking the most vulnerable and leaving behind grief stricken families. now the country is mourning the loss of loved ones with the american flag on top of the white house lowered to half staff. u.s. president joe biden is trying to comfort the nation and asking americans to remember those who have died. >> we acknowledge the scale of this mass death in america. remember each person and the life they lived. they're people we knew, they're people we feel like we knew. read the obituaries and remembrances, the son who called his mom every night just to check in, the father's daughter who lit up his world.

the best friend who's always there. >> and meantime, the race to prevent more tragedy and get americans vaccinated continues. the cdc says more than 64 million vaccine doses have been administered but warns that there is still work to be done. cnn's nick watt has more on how the u.s. got here and what's expected in the coming months. >> i could tell her anything. i'd say, babe, i love you so much. >> reporter: zerena rose, a 42-year-old nurse died after giving birth. one of the half a million now dead in america. it did not have to be this way. >> if you look back historically, we have done worse than most any other country. the kind of disparate responses of different states rather than having a unified approach. >> reporter: a disengaged now

former president and a politicization of masks. >> i think you can make a case tens of thousands died because of it. >> reporter: now is not the time to let your guard down. >> now let's just go forward and be completely committed as a unified country to just go at this together. this is a common enemy. >> reporter: our weapons, masks and needles. more than 75 million vaccine doses now distributed. weather-related delays, dr. fauci says, will be made up by mid week. still less than 6% of the u.s. population has been fully vaccinated and the country likely won't reach herd immunity until next winter say university of washington modelists. across society, some things might never be the same. >> i think the handshake, for

example, is probably going away. i hope so. i do think masks in the cough, cold, flu season in the winter months would make a lot of sense. >> reporter: there are half a million dead now in the u.s. alone. that's about the entire population of kansas city and then some. how many more will die? well, the cdc here in the united states projects that at least another 30,000 people could die in just the next three weeks. nick watt, cnn, los angeles. and earlier i spoke to ann romeyn, a professor of epidemiology at ucla. she said this massive loss of life due to the coronavirus could have been avoided. take a listen. >> i think there are a variety of factors. there's not going to be one factor we can point out fingers at and say, aha, this is the only reason we got where we are. there are a number of things. one, the politicization of this

virus and the public health measures. a mask would become something that was symbolic of where somebody stood in their political spectrum was something i don't think anybody could have ever imagined. the lack of -- the unwillingness to acknowledge what a problem this was from the trump administration really did create a major issue. then, of course, the lack of investment in our public health infrastructure. chronic lack of investment for decades really left us quite vulnerable. >> ann romeyn, professor of epidemiology from ucla. while the u.s. mourns so many lives lost to covid-19, there is still a focus on how to safely open schools. the cdc recommends places with high rates of transmission only reopen if they can maintain

strict mitigation measures like masks and social distancing. >> the safest and quickest ways to open schools and keep them open is to have as little covid-19 as possible. this is a shared responsibility. >> the cdc says only 18% of the nation's counties have coronavirus spread low enough for a safe return to in-person learning. it is a major reason why the cdc is highlighting the importance of scaling up vaccination efforts. donald trump is blasting a u.s. supreme court ruling that will allow a new york prosecutor eight years of his tax returns. the former president calls the investigation a fishing expedition meant to make him look bad. legal experts say it is a major blow for trump. cnn's jessica schneider has more. >> reporter: donald trump losing a major legal fight in a looming

criminal investigation. the supreme court has cleared the way for new york city's top prosecutor to obtain trump's tax returns and financial documents dating back to 2011. cy vance responds succinctly. they're probing two possible schemes for more than two years. >> this shows me that the manhattan d.a.'s investigation is getting more and more serious by the day. now they're going to get the tax returns. that's going to be a key piece of the puzzle. >> reporter: they started examining hush money payments to two women trump made and then the inquiries seemed to expand when court filings from vance's team indicated they were investigating possible tax crimes along with possible bank and insurance fraud. trump is responding to the supreme court decision saying the supreme court never should have let this fishing expedition happen, but they did. he also accused this district

attorney of being politically motivated and reiterated the witch hunt. >> this is a continuation of the witch hunt. greatest witch hunt in history. never been anything like it. where people want to examine every deal you've ever done. >> reporter: they're adding a well-known former pros courtor with an expertise in financial crimes and they've interviewed michael cohen. >> did the president or his company ever inflate assets or revenue? >> yes. >> and was that done with the president's knowledge or direction? >> everything was done with the knowledge and at the direction of mr. trump. >> reporter: but the public won't get access to trump's tax returns as a result of the supreme court's ruling. they'll be released to the d.a. for use with the grand jury only, a process where the proceedings are kept secret.

but if trump or his business face charges, details could be exposed. the new york times has already reported donald trump paid no federal taxes for 10 of the 15 years beginning in 2000 because he lost much more than he made and that in 2016 and 2017 when trump was in the white house he reportedly only paid $750 in federal income taxes. as for the timing of those tax returns, the da's office expects to get them in the next few days according to sources and there will likely be an electronic form. we have access to work papers related to the tax returns. they could shed light if there were any crimes. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. earlier i discussed the supreme court decision with norm isin. he is a cnn legal analyst and former white house ethics czar. i asked him how much legal trouble trump could be in.

>> rosemary, it's a felony in new york state to prepare false books and records in order to cover up another crime. we know michael cohen was charged for campaign finance violations, and that's just the beginning of the problems potentially. tax fraud, bank fraud and a variety of other issues that he faces, including insurance fraud. so the difficulties are challenging, indeed, and now there will be tax returns and accounting work papers to make his situation worse. >> right. you talked there about trump's former lawyer, michael cohen. he has previously said his bosa ledged property values to get better loan deals and under valuing his properties to avoid tax. now cohn says this about the ruling, the supreme court has

now proclaimed that no one is above the law. trump will for the first time have to take responsibility for his own dirty deeds. so what is your reaction to cohen's statement there, and what all do you think trump's tax returns will reveal? >> well, as to mr. cohen, who i got to know when we were conducting our investigation, hell hath no fury like a former lawyer scorned, rosemary, so i think cohen's life was turned upside down. terrible suffering on his part because of his connection with donald trump, so i do think there's an element of understandable humanity to this statement, but the substance of the statement is right. donald trump is facing a day of reckoning in new york and in other criminal and civil proceedings. how they'll turn out we don't know but, yes, having the bright

light of the prosecutors focused on him and his long history of alleged financial misconduct, that is going to be a day of reckoning. >> and my thanks to norm isam speaking to me earlier. adding insult to injury, why some techs apps are getting hit with sky high energy bills after the state's winter storms.

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welcome back, everyone. the british prime minister is trying to gradually bring england out of a full lockdown. boris johnson unveiled a four-step plan on monday to, as he put it, cautiously but irreversibly exit lockdown. he wasrned there will be more deaths but he said the country could not persist indefinitely with more. isa soares joins us now. how is this going to work? is this being viewed as the beginning of the end of life under lockdown?

>> reporter: good morning, rosie. i think many people are breathing a sigh of relief as the sun is shining. people perhaps thinking that the lockdown is coming, but it's a long road ahead. this is slow and cautious road, as you mentioned. the prime minister talking about the vaccination program. the vaccination program has shifted the odds in our favor and it's put england on a one-way road out of a lockdown to freedom, but that is acaveat where conditions have to be met. there are four conditions that have to be met. you and i have discussed them. it leads from hospitalization, the infection rate, vaccination programs going ahead and no more variants appearing in the u.k. those are the conditions. at each stage of the unlocking there are four phases. the government will assess

whether those conditions are being met. the prime minister saying yesterday it's about the data and not about the date. even though he provided dates, those are movable. the first one we have is march the 8th. schools can reopen. parents will be breathing a sigh of relief. march 8th is the opening. two people will be able to meet outside for a coffee, let's say. then on march 29th two households with the rule of six can also meet outdoors. that's phase one. after that phase one, rosie, what happens, the prime minister will look at that data to see whether the conditions are being met. if they see that actually they are being met, there's no impact on the health service on the hospitalizations, then they go onto the second phase or third phase. they'll ent on june 21st when all limits on social contact are lifted. that's the last day of

restrictions, official contact for the u.k. the prime minister pointing out clearly giving a reality check to many saying although the vaccination is going at full speed, there are many people who will not be vaccinated either because they don't want to be vaccinated or because they can't have the vaccine for health reasons. so there's still many people but he also said, i think your point is as you said to me just now, there's no credible reach to a zero covid brittain or a zero covid world. although the -- although the country's opening, there will be hospitalizations and unfortunately more deaths, rosemary. >> some progress being made there. isa soares bringing us the update. in the u.s. city of texas, the city of denton was hit with a $207 million electric billion for power used during last week's statewide blackout. that's more than three times

what the city usually pays in a year. we keep hearing reports of people receiving their own sky high electricity bills. cnn's ed lavandera takes a closer look. >> reporter: imagine the horrifying shock nora flores experienced when she printed out this electric bill for last week's charges during the winter storm in texas. how much have you been charged now? >> my bill is a big one. $3,315. for maybe five days. not even a month. >> flores works in a nursing home at $11 an hour. even as she sat in the dark and cold with her husband and children for three days without power, she kept seeing the charges skyrocketing. are you scared that this is going to wipe out the savings that you have? can you afford to pay this bill?

>> no, not right now because i don't have any savings at this moment. already spend my money when this month, you know? i don't have any saving money. i'm really, really scared about that, yes. >> reporter: state lawmakers will hold hearings scrutinizing what went wrong in last week's power grid chaos. the state's republican leaders are scrambling for calls to the state's energy market. senator ted cruz, who is trying to rehabilitate his image, after his well-documented 24 hour trip to cancun in the middle of the crisis says regulators should act swiftly to prevent this justice. in 2019 cruz tweeted the success on the energy market was built on low regulation. governor greg abbott is calling for state officials to help. >> texans who have suffered

through days without power, should not be subjected to skyrocketing energy bills. >> reporter: they're working to find relief for people who are facing the crippling electric bills. one lawmaker said federal disaster aid could cover the cost. >> are you saying they'll use the disaster relief funding from the federal government? >> yes. yeah, that's the current plans with the federal assistance. >> fema says federal disaster aid can be used for temporary housing and housing repairs. it does not include provisions to pay off power bills. texas consumer watchdogs say it's on republican leaders to fix this mess. >> homeowners are being hit with these massive bills. something has got to be done with it. ultimately it's a texas problem and we need to figure out a solution here with our local lawmakers. >> reporter: there are still millions of people without water in texas.

water distribution sites are set up all over the state. crews are working to repair water main breaks and people like rachel stevens are recovering from the aftermath. >> we have lines gushing water so now we have zero water in the house just due to having to turn it off until somebody can come out here and start fixing things. >> reporter: there are new details about another republican texas leader that fled the state, attorney general ken paxton and his wife who is a state senator flew to utah for a series of meetings. a spokesperson for paxton would not tell us or confirm when he left and when he returned back to the state. ed lavandera, cnn, dallas. well, the wife of convicted drug lord joakim el chapo gus man has been arrested on international drug trafficking charges. she was arrested monday at dulles airport just outside of

washington. the u.s. justice department ms charges her with conspiracy. prosecutors say she also helped her husband escape from a mexican prison back in 2015. el chapo is now serving a life sentence in a u.s. prison. well, as the u.s. surpasses yet another terrifying death toll, it is a big week for president joe biden's stimulus bill. we'll look at how the bill is expected to fare in the house and senate. also ahead, president joe biden sits down with prime minister justin trudeau. why the vaccine is expected to be a hot topic. back with that in a moment. learn more at grammarly.com/business. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now

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well, the coronavirus pandemic hasn't just killed half a million people in the united states, it has shattered families, shuttered businesses and devastated the economy. now u.s. president joe biden's covid relief bill may finally be coming together. cnn's phil mattingly has more. >> we need congress to pass my american rescue plan. >> reporter: tonight crunch time for president joe biden's corner stone. >> now critics say the plan is too big. let me ask the rhetorical question. what would you have me cut? what would you have me leave out? >> reporter: house democrats voting to pass president biden's $1.9 trillion. >> i'm prepared to hear ideas. >> reporter: but his stern

refusal to back off the size and scale of package amid gop concerns has left the onus entirely on congressional democrats to pass the plan with zero margin for error in a 50-50 senate where a fight over the $15 minimum wage is looming with two moderate democrats opposed and progressive democrats ready to fight. >> i know there are questions about whether or not the senate can get it through, but i can tell you, dana, this $15 minimum wage increase would mean 30 million americans would get a raise. >> reporter: white house officials tell cnn they believe the provision will run afoul of senate rules and be stripped. the high wire act on full displea on another front. >> i deeply regret and apologize for my language and some of my past language. >> the nomination of neera tanden officially on the ropes. with democratic senator joe manchin opposed due to overtly

partisan statements. >> the president nominated her because he believed she would be a stellar omb director. she has two committee votes. we'll continue working in supporting her nomination. >> the white house sticking with tanden for now. susan collins and mitt romney are also no votes and the pathways to confirmation are quickly disappearing. for one biden nominee though, what appears to be a clear road to the cabinet. >> i am honored to appear before you today -- >> merrick garland, biden's pick doing well enough in the first day of his confirmation hearing to have one democrat willing to say this. >> you're going to be confirmed, i'll bet my farm in vermont on that. >> reporter: and then a sharp contrast to his predecessor president biden saying he doesn't want to acknowledge the death toll, he wants to pause, take it in and remember the

500,000 lives lost due to covid. it was a little bit more than a month ago that joe biden standing at the lincoln memorial held a remembrance for the 400,000 lives lost at that point. it has been a little more than a month and 100,000 have died. president biden made it clear that while they were focused on vaccinations, on putting an end to the pandemic, on doing whatever they need today do on the public health side and economic side to turn the corner, he wants to remember 500,000 lives lost as he said on the 19th and to reiterate many times over, in order to heal, you must remember. phil mattingly, cnn, the white house. leaders around the world know that the best way to help in end this pandemic is to get people vaccinated but as dr. anthony fauci says doing that fairly is a huge task. >> we need to get vaccines produced and distributed in an

equitable way, not only in the united states because it is clear that each country must take care of their own but also the equitable distribution as mentioned by dr. tedros, a vaccine so that we realize that this is a global pandemic. while some countries like the united states are moving ahead with vaccinations, others like canada, they're already struggling with supply cut off from american manufactured vaccines next door. many canadians have to wait. our paula newton takes a look. >> reporter: back in december it all looked so promising. canada's first vaccine shots plunged into arms raising spirits and expectations. two months later supplies are down to a trickle. david and carol green are like so many house bound seniors now waiting and worrying.

>> on one hand you try to be reasonable and on the other hand you're screaming your head off and saying, you know, what's wrong here? why are we not doing something else, you know? >> we are frustrated. i'm frustrated by the fact i don't see any news here depending on what's happening with the shots. >> both in their 70s, the greens have no idea when they'll be vaccinated and with new variants stalking the globe, they're terrified the vaccines won't come soon enough. all of this in a country that says it has purchased more doses than anyone per capita. pfizer, biontech and moderna have had manufacturing delays, then there's the so-called vaccine nationalism. in the u.s. they're prioritizing doses for themselves. in the u.s. the cdc says more than 44 million people have received at least one dose.

that's about 13.3% of the population. health canada says just over 972,000 canadians have received at least one dose. that is about 2.5% of the population. so vaccines are just one of the key issues likely to come up when president biden meets with canadian prime minister justin trudeau today. let's bring in andrew mcdougall. he is the former director of communications for former canadian prime minister steven harper. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. with canada facing a vaccine dilemma, prime minister trudeau will likely ask for help from president biden. the u.s. president is focused on vaccinating his own citizens first, particularly with a death toll surpassing half a million. how delicate will this meeting be and what impact could the vaccine issue have ultimately on

the u.s.-canadian relationship? >> i think it's going to be, rosemary, overall a very friendly meeting with two people who see the world much the same way. vaccines are something they would love to have more of and something president biden is wanting more of. the best meeting is to 23409 have the vaccine scab picked at by the u.s. president and expect biden to say warm words in working with the ally down the road and when production revs up even more. i don't think we'll see an agreement today. biden will treat the allies in a friendly manner and for canada to enjoy having a rational actor inside the white house. >> right. of course, china will be the other big issue the two leaders will inevitably tackle.

they need to show a united front on human rights abuses, currency manipulation and more. how do they achieve that? >> well, i think that's the question of the age for the world is how do you take on china, and, you know, the biden administration has come in with strong words about human rights issues. they're declaring what's happening in western china a genocide. they're on the wrong front. as you note, canada's had two citizens abducted by chinese officials for over 800 days now because of an ongoing extradition case involving the former huawei ceo. i'm sure trudeau will want biden to give an update because as long as the two michaels are abducted in china, bilateral discussions can't progress. hopefully justin trudeau can get

president biden to come on board in a way he never was with trying to resolve this so it frees up diplomatic action elsewhere. >> watch what happens there. what do both leaders need to get out of this meeting? and what do they need to do to restart their economies and work together on that? >> i think, rosemary, the number one thing is getting the border open. it's the longest under funded border in the world. the second largest goods trade after mexico. there is no full steam economic recovery without the canadian border operating friction free and getting people across. that's why prime minister trudeau would have a compelling case to say, look, vaccinating only the united states gets you so far. if canada is vaccinated as well, our economies can get back on track and they can start passing parts as opposed to the reduced flow we've seen.

so, again, that's where vaccination ties into the economy. hopefully justin trudeau can get the president to move a bit. andrew mcdougall, many thanks for talking to us. myanmar's military is threatening deadly violence. huge crowds like this one are still demonstrating against the coup. coming up, an exclusive interview with the family of a woman who died during the protest. with audible, i can be transported somewhere that is impossible to go. the audible plus catalog is awesome. it's like having a streaming service, but just for audio content. there's so many options. there's podcasts. i'll listen to the meditations. i love audible originals. mythology, anthropology, a lot of the -ologies.

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people in myanmar are remembering loved ones who died in protests against the military coup. one family held a funeral for a man in his 30s. he's one of two people who died when police opened fire. authorities say the officers were attacked with sticks and knives. cnn's paula hancocks joins me now live from seoul.

paula, despite deadly threats from myanmar's military, protestors have defied getting out on the streets in a massive show of force. what's the latest on this? >> reporter: that's right, rosemary. the numbers we saw monday looking at the live streams of different protests were quite remarkable. there were, as you say, massive numbers of people that came out onto the street despite the military saying they could, quote, suffer loss of life if they confronted the police. of course, it was too late for a number of protestors who have already lost their life. we spoke to the family of the first casualty who died on friday. this is what her sister had to say. >> reporter: this is the moment she was shot in the head taking cover from the water cannon at a february 9th protest in the capitol. she could be seen here wearing a helmet. a gunshot is heard and she drops to the ground. her sister was by her side and

thought she had fainted. >> translator: i shouted, help! help me move her to the side! someone said that we should take her helmet off. only then did i realize she had been shot. i was praying for her to recover, for nothing to have happened. how do i explain this feeling? if i describe t i keep seeing it. >> reporter: she leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter. her sister says the whole family is devastated. >> translator: for us she is still a kid even though she was 20 years old. she was care free, loved to go out to eat and read horror stories. >> reporter: she turned 20 while in critical condition. her family marked her first day at the hospital. the military tried to transfer her to the military hospital while she was still being treated but they refused. that doctor is in hiding fearing arrest. he would only speak to us if we concealed his identity.

>> i believe they wanted to stop the media attention and they were trying to stop the evidence. >> reporter: do you think they were trying to hide the evidence and save her? >> she's already in a coma. >> reporter: x-rays showed the bullet lodged in the patient's brain and the doctor says it confirms it was a live bullet that killed her. the family asked the doctors to share the medical report and autopsy with cnn. her only crime is she threw a water bottle at police. >> reporter: the military issued a statement saying she was throwing stones at the riot police. the military also says the bullet that killed her is not the same ammunition used by

police. amnesty international accuses police of firing live ammunition into the crowd. they investigated this photo from afb news agency and says it was taken across the road from protesters. according to amnesty's reporting, a police officer is holdsing an oozy. cnn cannot independently verify the image and it is unclear what killed her. the police will handle the investigation. supporters lined the streets of her funeral procession sunday. a symbol of the pro democracy movement. her sister said she will be back out on the streets after the mourning period and has a message. >> translator: we do not hate the individual soldier. please, don't side with the thieves, with the civilians. don't bully us even if you can't

join us. >> reporter: she is the first casualty in myanmar's fight for democracy. two more deaths over the weeken. >> reporter: the state media has reported on the case as well saying there was a state administration council this week leader, and they discussed this particular protest. they're pointing out that she was rioting, that is something denied by the sister saying that she threw a water bottle. the military saying she was in a crowd that was throwing stones. also claiming the military that they only used rubber bullets and not live rounds. rosemary? >> it is a tragic situation. paula hancocks bringing us up to date on what is happening in myanmar. many thanks. iran ups the ante on the standoff.

supreme leader ayatollah khamenei said they could enrich u rainian up to 60% if they needed to to enhance technologies. this would put them well on the way to weapons grade enrichment. the ayatollah said iran is not after nuclear woep ponce but won't limit to 20% either. they will enrich it even if it means going up to > as american loved ones, we will take a look at a few of the 500,000 lives lost in the u.s. and the shattered families they have left behind.

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as the u.s. marks the devastating milestone of 500,000 covid-19 deaths, we want to remember just a few of those who have lost their battle with the virus. here's cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. >> to heal we must remember. >> reporter: no one is immune

from covid-19, not the young and healthy, not the elderly, and not health care workers who risk their own lives to save others. samantha diaz dreamed of becoming a nurse so she could help others. she was working towards that dream in her job as a medical assistant. although worried about being in the office during the pandemic, she also needed the money to care for her children. samantha died just 9 days before her 30th birthday. the single mother leaves behind a 1-year-old, a 2-year-old and a 15-year-old. diaz's mother has quit her job to raise her three grandchildren but worries she won't live long enough to see them all reach adulthood. dr. seuss san moore was a mother, physician, advocate. when dr. moore was diagnosed with covid-19, she documented her battle on her facebook page and she detailed her fight to receive heequitable health care. she loved practicing medicine.

according to a go fund me created in her honor. >> going to shine the lights of the darkness along to seek a fuller reflection and remember all we lost. >> reporter: when racial tensions in the 1970s, he captured it all. a legacy he thought was often ignored in american history. he began his career photographing protests. over the next five decade's lee's lens exposed the hard truths of racism, labor, housing while capturing the beauty of the asian-american communities. his latest, producing a film

about his life's work. award winning nba reporter sai ku smith. he reported for nba tv and reported for turner sports. adam silver and retired nba great dwyane wade. he leaves behind his wife heather and their three children. marshall mckay was one of the most prominent native american lead injuries in the country. the "l.a. times" reports that he pushed for economic independence for his people and set up a successful tribal casino and resort in sacramento. he sat on the board of the american indian and the ato museum and he became the first indigenous person to chair. in december he and his wife tested positive from the coronavirus. she recovered, he did not. he was 68 years old.

jonathan coulello was just . he spent 28 days in the hospital, 20 on a ventilate ore. he seemed to improve. then his wife got a call telling her to come quickly. by the time she arrived, he was gone. when she got home she turned on his phone and found he had left his life insurance information on it along with a heartbreaking final love letter. it read in part, you are truly one of a kind. make sure you live your life with happiness and that same passion that made me fall in love with you. seeing you be the best mom to the kids is the greatest thing i've ever experienced. >> i have it on video. >> i love you. >> okay. >> thank you always. thank you so much for your company. i'm rosemary church. you're watching cnn. ea"early start" is next.

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welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this is "early start." good morning, i'm christine romans. >> i'm laura jarrett. tuesday, february 23rd. 5 a.m. in the u.s. a painful reminder everything americans have lost and will still lose to coronavirus. the nation pausing to honor the half million parents, siblings, cousins, friends, all the loved ones killed by this pandemic. half a million. it's more than the number of american troops killed in world war i, world war i