>> brennan: welcome back to "face the nation." there are growing concerns about b117, the new strain of the coronavirus first discovered in the united kingdom. so far the highest number of cases from that strain have been found iforns correspot jamie yuccas is in hard-hit l.a. county. >> reporter: margaret, l.a. county is home to half of the covid deaths and state, and nearly one in three have been infected with the virus since the pandemic began. now, the largest vaccination site in the country is dodgers stadium. it has been a slow start for vaccinations in california.

but officials believe by next week, health care workers in the state will be able to administer 40,000 doses a day. >> it took a little bit of waiting, but the actual vaccination went really fast and painless. >> reporter: but there are mounting concerns the supply of vaccines doses could run out. california was expecting an uptake in shipments after the federal government promised to release a reserve supply. >> they have reneged or are unable to deliver on that. >> reporter: the trump administration says governors misunderstood. >> we're not sitting on a reserve. we've made that available to the states. >> reporter: hospitalization rates in california have fallen, but many hospitals are still well over capacities with a californian dying of covid every three minutes. a new c.d.c. study shows a more contagious strain of coronavirus, first discovered in the u.k.,

could become the dominate strain in the u.s. pie march. by march. >> it makes it harder to control. >> reporter: dr. anthony fauci is distraught that with the u.s. death toll topping nearly 4,000 a day, some still don't believe the disease is real. >> doctor: i think the answer is not going to be blow them aside and say you're crazy. you've got to engage and figure out what is it that straighted us so profoundly. >> reporter: despite the growing push to get as many americans vaccinated as quickly as possible, this is a race against time, with thousands still dying from the virus every day. the u.s. is expected to surpass 400,000 deaths this week. margaret? >> brennan: jamie yuccas, thank you. worldwide we've now passed two million deaths due to this pandemic. liz palmer reports from london. >> reporter: good morning. ambitious vaccination programs are now getting under way on almost every

continent. though as you might expect they're moving ahead fastest in the rich countries of the developed world, where the united kingdom is one of the front-runners. this week historic churches in england became vaccination centers. as the organ played, local elderly people got their shots in this cathedral. >> we've been on this site for 800 years. we've been about two things: giving glory to god and serving the people of this city and region. >> reporter: the u.k. is now on track to have all medical frontline workers and those over 80 done by mid-february. in the developing world, india is leading the way. this hospital worker got the very first shot this week. there are 300 million more on the first wave priority list. but there is a confidence problem: many don't trust one of the vaccines, not

because it was developed in india but because it was rolled out before trials ended. then there are countries like south africa, which must still focus on treatment because they haven't got a single vaccine dose. and this just as a new, more contagious strain is racing across the continent. another new strain has emerged in the amazon, and it's a worry because no one yet knows if the current vaccines are affective against it. meanwhile, in china, the world health organization's team finally landed in wuhan to examine the origins of the virus, but two of them tested positive, and the rest are in quarantine until the end of the month. because of those new coronavirus mutations, more stringent travel restrictions are springing up. here in the u.k., for example, nobody is going to be allowed in as of monday unless they can show a negative test less

than three days old. margaret? >> brennan: liz palmer in london, thank you. we want to go to the incoming biden administration's c.d.c. director, rochelle walensky. and she joins us from boston. good morning to you, doctor. >> doctor: good morning, margaret. thanks for having me. >> brennan: we are already at 4,000 cases a day. the outgoing c.d.c. director says wh that we're about to be in the worst month. do you agree with his forecast, that it is goingt wor? octo unfortunately, i do. i think that, you know, we've -- as you've noted, nearly 4,000 deaths a day, almost 400,000 deaths total by the middle of february. we expect half a million deaths in this country. that doesn't speak to the tens of thousands of people who are living with

a yet uncharacterized syndrome after they've recovered. and we still yet haven't seen the ramifications of what happened from the holiday travel in terms of high rates of hospitalizations and the deaths thereafter. so, yes, i think we still have some dark weeks ahead. >> brennan: how often is the public going to hear from you? are you going to brief regularly? >> doctor: i will brief as often as i can, as often as new information comes. i also want to make sure that the subject matter experts at the centers for disease control and prevention who have been reading and reviewing the literature, that you hear from them. when there are new things to report, you will hear from somebody at the c.d.c., and it may very well be me. >> brennan: well, we hope to continue to get that new information, doctor, because there are a lot of questions right now about these reports of new strains out of the u.k., out of brazil, out of south africa.

what are you hearing? what concerns you about these new strains? >> doctor: so the first thing i want to indicate is that viruses mutate. we've known for a long time that viruses mutate. not just coronavirus. and they mutate when they're under pressure. there is a lot of pressure right now because there is a lot of virus circulating out there, especially in this country. we worry about several things: we worry about whether they have increased transmissibility. we worry about whether they have increased morbidity and fatality. so far the one from the u.k. looks like it is more transmissible. we don't have anymore information whether it evades our vaccines. we have indication that it likely does not. but what increased transmissibility means is there are more cases and therefore more deaths. there are further studies

looking at the south africa strain and the brazil strain and other strains in nigeria. and this demonstrates our need to be vigilan vigilant to o have resources to understand which strains are here and whether we have increased transmissibility and vaccine efficacy. >> brennan: the c.e.o. of eli lilly has said they have indications that the south african strain, at least, shows some rec yavcation as well? >> doctor: i heard that the lily antibody that we've been using for early-stage disease -- it is one antibody. the regeneron is an antibody cocktail. and there is concern that other strains might have resistance. not taking off all efficacy, but decreasing their efficacy. >> brennan: on the question of surveillance,

basically why don't we, as a country, have a better system to detect which virus, which mutation, and where it is? how are you going to fix that? >> doctor: you know, i think this really just gets to the resources that are necessary in this country for an adequate public health infrastructure, and one for an infrastructure for when we are in the middle of a pandemic. we didn't have one at base line, and we certainly don't have one now during a pandemic. one of the things i'm really going to advocate for, and i know the president-elect biden is advocating for, is to make sure we have the resources for our public health system so that we can do the surveillances necessary for the testing. >> brennan: you can set that up quickly enough? >> doctor: they're working on it right now. >> brennan: the president-elect says he is going to release all vaccines supplies when he gets in office. but there is confusion how much vaccine there is whether or not there is a

federal stockpile. do you have a clear answer on how much vaccine supply this country has? >> doctor: we have looked carefully, and we are confident that we have enough vaccine for the 100 million doses over the next 100 days. that is what the president-elect has promised. it will be a hefty lift, but we have it in us to do that. in order to do that, we have to look at the supply, for sure. we have to make sure there are enough people getting vaccinated, but not too many as to overwhelm the system. and we have to make sure there are enough vaccinaters. and where there are any bottlenecks in thath3 supply, we will address those bottlenecks. >> brennan: are there bottlenecks right now? is there a problem with production with the vaccine? >> doctor: i think there are bottlenecks across the entire system.

different states are having different challenges. how much is being rolled out to each state, whether those states hav whether those states are getting vaccine to pharmacies. our job is to make sure that with the entire support of the federal government, that we address all of the bottlenecks wherever we are so we can get vaccines into people's arms. >> brennan: the president-elect says he wants to try in the first 100 days to reopen schools, in the "k" through 8 age rate. yet we're looking at europe, and they're reversing course, actually closing schools after they had been keeping them open. given the new information about the new strains, i still realistic to think you can reopen schools? >> doctor: i think that this is a goal that the president-elect has. i share the goal. we are going to look carefully. one of the things we want to do is make sure we can vaccinate our educators and people in our school

systems. we certainly don't want to open schools if they're not safe. one of the things we have to do is make sure we have is our transmission and disease rates coming down in those first 100 days. between vaccinating the teachers and resources to get those schools adequately equipped, and getting our "k" through 8 kids back, that is the anticipated goal. >> brennan: doctor, thank you for your time today. and we hope to have you back as c.d.c. director to inform the public. inform the public. we'll be right back. rotein. low sugar. low sugar. mmm, birthday cake. pure protein bars and shakes. for every fitness routine. broken windshield... take 1... pure protein bars and shakes. hey guys, my windshield just got broken, i feel like i need to blow off some steam. let's go... 1, 2, 3, 4... mr. blanks? there's no need to be stressed. geico makes it easy to file a claim online, on the app, or over the phone. yeah, but what if i never hear back? that's gonna make me want to go jab...jab! nope! your geico claims team is always there for you.

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juvéderm it. talk to your doctor about the juvéderm collection of fillers. i'm made to move. talk to your doctor but these days, i'm not getting out as much as i'd like to. that's why i take osteo bi-flex. it helps with occasional joint stiffness, while it nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long term. osteo bi-flex. because i'm made to move. >> brennan: we want to go now to former f.d.a. commissioner dr. scott gottlieb. he is in west port, connecticut this morning. good morning to you. >> doctor: good morning. >> brennan: you just heard the incoming c.d.c. director say 500,000 deaths by mid-february, that this will get worse. do you agree? >> doctor: yeah, i think tragically that is right.

what we're likely to see is infection start to decline. we're seeing a near term peak in the terms of new cases. unfortunately, deaths and hospitalizationsill continue to grow over the next few weeks. but it will continue to climb for four weeks, maybe five weeks, until this new variant takes over. it is about .5% of all infections nationally. there are hotspots in southern california and florida that may be closer to 1%, but it is going to double every week. it is about doubling every week. that's the experience from other countries and the experience we've seen so far in the united states. it is 1% now, and then it will be 2%, and 4%, and 6%, and 18% -- the only backstop against this new variant is that we will have a lot of infection by then, so there will be a lot of immunity in the population. but this really changes the equation. i think what we're looking at is a relentless strike from this virus heading

into the spring, where fin infections would have started to drop in this spring. but we need to get people vaccinated. >> brennan: we just spoke with the incoming c.d.c. director who recognized there is not a good surveillance in place to figure out the new mutations. the numbers you're citing, they're from the private sector? >> doctor: well, illumina, the company i'm on the board of, is doing a lot of the sequencing work. unfortunately, the sample is very small. we should be sampling 5%, but we're doing well under 1%. we haven't found any of the b15 variant, the south africa variant. it is about .3 to .5% of all infection, but it is going to increase. we've seen it double already week over week. this information is available. illumina has tweeted some

of it out. they're working with c.d.c. on this. so the data is starting to be available. as the c.d.c. director said, we're not doing a lot of surveillance work right now. so we're probably not detecting the full scope of what is on the way in this country. >> brennan: americans now, aged two years old and up, will have to show proof of a negative covid test to re-enter this country, even if they're a citizen. will that make a difference, these travel restrictions, in reducing these other strains from permeating? >> doctor: it is going to have some impact. i'm it is hard to estimate how much it will really affect introduction into the united states. the bottom line is already here. even b1351351 is probably already in the state. and people who think mae might have been infected or exposed to somebody who has been infected, they're

unlikely to get on a plane because they don't want to get caught in a quarantine. so i think it will be more of a deterrent. versus catching actual wous thatases.i nke needo these strains are here. the simple things are going to work: avoiding masks and avoiding crowds. and the quality of the mask really matters. >> brennan: that means surgical or n-95 and b1351 is 'you' what you're calling the south african strain? >> doctor: the south african strain and the brazilian strain. >> brennan: everyone take notes. i want to get to the vaccines, which puts more protection on the american people. what is the bottom line: i asked the c.d.c. director if they had a good supply. she still thinks they can hit that 100 million mark

with vaccinations. you sit on the board of pfizer, what do you know about supply? >> doctor: i think they will hit that 100 million mark. i think the issue will become demand. i think they'll have the supply and distribution in place to do that. right now 30million doses have been shipped to the states. another 15 million will be available to states, and 5 million have been ordered. i think the plan the new administration put out makes sense, sort of an all the above approach, trying to push this through different channels, like the big box stores and pharmacies. you look at a state like conncut, the state i live in, and i think they've been taking that approach. and you see it working, where they've turned to the national guard early, they set up a diversity of sites to distribute this. they have targeted high-risk groups, and they recognized that every vaccination is important. so when people got vaccinated out of turn,

they didn't impose fines and penalties and restricteto get out all of the supply. and the state has been successful. it is one of the leading states in terms of getting people vaccinated. i think it builds off what some states have done well. >> brennan: the numbers you were citing, that's according to pfizer or "operation warped speed"? >> doctor: that's according to "operation warped speed." i have some insight to pfizer. i think there are ways the administration can work with the companies to increase supplies. there will are machines that will help produce more supply. and there might be things you can do under the finishing, as you bottle the vaccines, trying to get additional doses out of the way you bottle the vaccine, making that process nor efficient. i think it will be slow, but we can ink more supply with all of the different things you can do to try to increase the inputs and the outputs here. >> brennan:

dr. gottlieb, thank you, as always, for your insights. we're back in a moment.

>> brennan: we want to take a look at what's on the minds of americans as we begin a new administration in these

very troubled times. cbs news elections and surveys director anthony salvanto is in west chester county, new york. good morning to you, anthony. we are on the virge of a big change politically, but americans are on edge. what do they see as the biggest threat to them right now. >> good morning, margaret. it is indeed a portrait of a country on edge after the events of the past few weeks. we asked that very question: what is the biggest threat to your way of life right now, more so than foreign adversaries, more so than things from the natural world, disasters and viruses. people said it was other people in america, domestic enemies. have a look at this: the capitol is certainly on edge this week. americans feel the political violence may increase over the next few years. so hardly out of the woods. and, more broadly, margaret, i would say that although we'll hear a lot

about political divisions and a divided country, rightly in the next few weeks, you know, americans feel that democracy itself is threatened. very few report that they feel that it's secure. these are much more fundamental concerns, margaret. >> brennan: anthony, it is so disturbing what you're laying out here. is there any sense that it is going to get any better with the biden administration? >> well, there certainly is optimism. the majority of optimism about the next four years with joe biden as president. i would say these are very partisan divisions, but it is there. the other thing to look at is joe biden's opposition in congress, the republicans. and here is a party that also seems very much divided. look, half of republicans, rank-and-file, want their party in congress to try to find common ground with the biden administration. but half want them to oppose him as much as possible.

and you take a look at this, where half of republicans say they will still not consider joe biden as the legitimate president even after he is sworn in. and who are these folks? well, this half are more likely to be the strongest donald trump supporters, the kind of folks we've seen over the last few years who even consider themselves to be donald trump supporters first even more so than republicans, margaret. >> brennan: so that suggests that president trump's grip on the republican party doesn't go away when he leaves office? >> it really doesn't, at least not in part, at least not for that core base of the base. in fact, when we talked about impeachment, these are the folks who are more likely to say that the republicans who voted for impeachment were not principled but were disloyal. margaret? >> brennan: anthony salvanto, thank you for your insight. we'll be right back.

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>> brennan: big news from us here at "face the nation," we're launching a new podcast this friday called "facing forward." i'll be talking with the business leaders and policy-makers who make the decisions that impact every american. you can subscribe on apples podcast or your favorite podcast platform. that's it for us. thank you for watching. and we'll see you wednesday for the inauguration of joseph r.biden. for "face the nation," i'm margaret brennan. captioning sponsored b a acss group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

reporting from new york city. an anxious america holds its breath. the nation's capitol looking like a war zone, the threat from home grown extremists. today, rallies instead of riots in several states. also,ew video from inside the capitol siege. the rioters appearing intent to a coup. >> has to be something here that we can use against the skum bags. >> plus the 45th president, packs up making way for the 46th. we will review mr. biden's agenda. the u.s. faces 400,000 covid deaths. the daunting crisis confronting the new