natasha chen is live for us in nashville. natasha, what are you hearing from investigators?ter: this is very much an active scene.

so, natasha chen, appreciate your reporting. she is in antioch, tennessee, which is a neighborhood of nashville, which is about 12 miles southeast of nashville. very interesting information natasha is getting as she is reporting that there are evidence teams that are conducting some kind of search of this property where neighbors say that they have seen an rv parked on the property. and here is video of some of the teams just moments ago taking out brown bags of presumably evidence related to this massive explosion that we saw happen in nashville, downtown nashville, on christmas morning. shimon, to you. let's start from the beginning and take us through the timeline of how all this happened up until this point with your sources telling you they believe this was likely a suicide bombing. >> reporter: right, so, it's all starts, obviously, yesterday, around 6:00 a.m. or so, sometime before 6:00 a.m. where police receive a call for a shots -- gunshots, shots fired call. they respond to the location just a couple of blocks away from

natasha chen is live for us in nashville. natasha, what are you hearing from investigators? >> reporter: this is very much an active scene. governor bill lee posted on twitter about requesting the emergency declaration. he said on twitter that after he toured this area he found the devastation shocking. and of course, that's because there's so much debris here. it spreads across several blocks. we're on 2nd avenue where this happened, but it's several blocks away where the perimeter is. you can see some police cars in the distance with tape right there. there's shattered glass even several blocks away. there may be a press conference this afternoon to update us with the latest information from law enforcement. as you mentioned, they confirmed yesterday that there was tissue found believed to be human remains. i asked specifically where they found that on the site f that could possibly relate to whether anyone was in the rv, and the police chief told me it was too soon to answer the question, that the debris is scattered in a way that they're still working through this and mo

natasha chen, appreciate it. for more on the investigation, let's go to senior justice correspondent evan perez. evan, what's the latest that you have heard? >> anderson, the resources are on their way to nashville. the fbi memphis field office is taking the lead on this investigation of what is obviously a vehicle bomb that went off, and the devastating one at that, because you can see from those pictures the amount of devastation that went not only on that block but there were windows blown out on blocks around the scene of that, and as you pointed out, the building that appears to be the most damaged is that at&t exchange building. and there's a lot of things that are puzzling to law enforcement right now. the atf is sending in their national response team. these are some of the best bomb techs there are in the federal government, and what they're going to do is they're going to examine all of the evidence, both from the damaged buildings, the remains of this rv to see whether they can determine what this bomb

meantime, cnn's natasha chen is near the scene of where authorities are investigating that suspiciousehicle. what more can you tell us, natasha, and shimon prokupecz also with us in downtown nashville. but first to you, natasha. >> reporter: yeah, fred. just a few minutes ago, captain scott moore with the wilson county sheriff's office told us there were no explosives found at that suspicious white box truck. again, no explosives found. they did detain the driver of that truck. he would not go into detail about why they detained him, said that would be information coming from the rutherford county sheriff's office because that's where the initial call came in that this truck was parked at a convenience store, playing a recording similar to the audio that we heard from the rv at the downtown nashville christmas morning explosion. so that's why they were looking into this truck to begin with. and they pulled this truck over earlier today, about mid-morning, in this area which local residents tell me is called major, the town of major near lebanon. this has been going on for hours, but r

natasha chen is with us now. what do we know about these discussions, what will be determined?>> the committee is taking about an hour's worth of comments to see who gets the vaccine next. as you mentioned, the firs t wave is all right started. >>> people 75 and older, frontline workers, and they're debating more about the next group, involving maybe slightly younger people, especially those with chronic health conditions and trying to debate exactly what those special health conditions would be in that description. the next group, teachers, police, firefighters, a group of about 50 million people, another 57 million people after that. biden's nominee for u.s. surgeon general dr. vivek murthy talks about it. >>. >> we may see a circumstance where by late spring people in lower risk categories could get the vaccine, but that would have to have everything going very well on schedule. we want to be optimist ic. >> reporter: alex azar estimates by the end of february we may see 50 million people vac fated. >>> this all while the second vaccine from moderna is on the move. it's in c

natasha chen joins me with more. what is the latest that you've learned, natasha? >> reporter: biana, investigators will be going through the site today several blocks behind us. anthony quinn warner they announced his name yesterday after going through one of the homes that he lived in previously, the day before, we saw federal agents for hours going through taking out evidence from a home in antioch, tennessee, that's just about ten miles southeast of where we're standing. it's a tip about the rv that led them there and keep in mind, the blast was so vast but still able to get fragments of the rv to get a vehicle identification number to lead back to the owner. they also were able to process identifying him pretty quickly. they were taking the human remains found on the site, having that processed quickly at quantico, along with dna samples of warner's family members, that's how they got confirmation of this person as the suspect. police last night released new surveillance video of the dramatic moment when the explosion went off, just this giant ball of orange.

natasha chen is at a drive-through event in atlanta. tell us what's going on there?ing to step aside to show you that reverend warnock and john ossoff, the two democrat candidates have come by to volunteer and help put food in people's trunks. we saw someone who realized who it was, and they screamed. people excited to see them. but ossoff did say before he started volunteering he felt it important to acknowledge the food insecurity and the need that is so great this year across the country as we've seen at many food drives, people who have never been to food banks before, trying to get some help any way they can and, of course, during the holiday season it's critically important. there you see them putting items in someone's car. this is the 50th annual christmas drive for the jose helps organization. named after the civil rights leader in atlanta. of course, the weather is sort of playing games with how many people are able to show up right now but there is a long line of cars and people who are here asking for this help, what they're getting is a sack lunch today

natasha chen, orlando, florida. >>> thanks to all of you for being here.. "newsroom" with kate bolduan will start after a short break. ♪ ♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. ...this one's for you. you inspired us to make your humira experience even better... with humira citrate-free. it has the same effectiveness you know and trust, but we removed the citrate buffers, there's less liquid, and a thinner needle... with less pain immediately following injection. ask your doctor about humira citrate-free. and you can use your co-pay card to pay as little as $5 a month. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections,... ...including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened,... ...as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems,... ...serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where cert

natasha chen is in tennessee and dan simon is in san francisco. tennessee currently leads the country in the number of coronavirus infections per capita. what are you seeing and hearing there? >> reporter: kate, we are in coffee county, and this is -- the fairgrounds has turned into a testing site. i can tell you right now we don't see anybody in line to get a test and this opened about an hour ago. there were a few people trickling in at first but it's emptied out. the issues we're seeing are in the east everyoern part of tenn. the "the new york times" made a list of where they're seeing increases, and tennessee made the list a few times. if you look at the overall moving average of daily cases in tennessee let's show you that graph because it's a stark visual there from early november to the current day we're seeing the skyrocketing graph. and hospitalizations the same thing, a steady increase in a scary way. the governor here, bill lee said people's thanksgiving choices are catching up to them. the vaccine is a good thing it's rolling out but i

natasha chen joins us live from nashville. natasha, what's the latest you're hearing from investigators? >> boris, investigators are still working on a very large blast radius and that's why we are so far back from the perimeter. this is where media is allowed to be. we are on second avenue and that is where the explosion happened. it's several, several blocks away from where we are. the mayor last night did say 41 bhiss were damaged in this blast. people who lived near where the explosion happened. witnesses telling cnn how scary that was. city officials tauted the efforts of six metro police officers. when they arrived on scene, they heard the message you heard playing from the rv and helped people evacuate. when i asked the mayor what message he has, here's what he told me. >> my message is expect a knock on your door. it will be a puzzle for a period of time, but i expect they'll solve it. this should not be in america where you have violence on the street. >> reporter: he said that this was done to create chaos on christma

. >> natasha chen joins us live from nashville. nvestigators are saying there is no indication of terrorism. what else are we hearing from investigators? >> reporter: well, they've just said it's an intentional act, we believe. they don't know much more than that. they're still piecing it together. they have us stand on 2nd avenue but it's very far removed from their perimeter. it happened several blocks down that way and we see police blocking off that area. in fact, they're trying to keep everybody for the most part outside of this downtown nashville area to stay away. the curfew lasts until sunday afternoon. yesterday, they confirmed that they told us yesterday they found tissue of human remains at the scene. i asked specifically where that was found or maybe a person who may have been in the rv. the police chief told smme theye not really to discuss that yesterday. sending debris everywhere. you see on the ground, the mayor said at least 41 businesses were destroyed in a historic core, and one building collapsed on itself. we he

natasha chen, you will be reporting for us throughout the afternoon. i appreciate you being on the ground. thank you. >> and still ahead this hour, stay with us as we continue to monitor the situation in nashville, tennessee, as well as bringing you the latest as we learn more about what led up to this morning's explosion. but neck, txt, the incredible t from the coronavirus. more to help protect against the u.k.'s covid variant. it's been a tough year. and now with q4 wrapping up, the north pole has to be feeling the heat. it's okay santa, let's workflow it. workflow it...? with the now platform, we can catch problems before customers even know they're problems. wait... a hose? what kid wants a hose?! fireman? says "hose" it says "horse"! not a "hose"! cedric! get over here! now our people can collaborate across silos, from across the globe. so how's the new place? it's a 4 bed, 2.5 bath igloo... it's great! yeah, but you have to live in the south pole. sir... wait, are you sure? yes, we're that productive now. you hear that?! the kids get twice the p

natasha chen is in nashville for us. i know you got an update on the number of people being treated in hospitals after friday's blast. what can you tell us? >> reporter: right. at least eight people that we know of were sent to hospitals after this explosion on friday. centennial hospital said they received three patients who were discharged the same day and then vanderbilt university medical center said they received five people in stable condition. what's amazing is that there weren't more serious injuries and no fatalities besides the suspect you just mentioned and that is because of the officers' quick action. the six people who responded to the scene because of initial reports of shots fired, that's still being investigated whether those were real gun shots or the recording of the sound of gun shots and while they were there, they started hearing the recorded message from the rv, an eerie message about the explosion, and then they started knocking on doors. this was christmas morning, the shops were not planning to

. >> cnn's natasha chen spoke to one mother who is weighing her options. >> reporter: 2020 has been ane have been cause for celebration, in march as the pandemic forced much of the economy closed, giddens who had just accepted a job with a rental car company at the airport had that offer rescinded, a first for 30-year-old giddens who lives with her boyfriend and their 2-year-old son. >> we knew we had a 2-year-old to take care of. i was so depressed. >> reporter: two incomes in january became one by march. then as she struggled to find work and keep up with bills, another first, an eviction notice on her door telling her she had to be out by january th. >> i'm stressed every day. i try is not to let it show. >> reporter: especially in front of her son who can sense something is wrong. >> i believe in god. i think he's going to take care of everything. >> reporter: this year is also her first time ever asking for financial assistance just to pay her past due rent. >> i didn't want to sit down and do it, but i had to. >> reporter: she emailed a list of charities to see if it could help.

na th natasha chen. >>> joining me is executive associate dean at emery school of medicine and and serves as a special adviser for infectious diseases for delta air lines. thank you for being with us and for all that you do. >> delighted to be with you. >> i want to make the point. you received the pfizer vaccine a shot in the arm, one of 500,000 plus americans to get it. how are you feeling and what's your message to those fearing the side effects after two people had allergic reactions? >> you know, i did find, took it 24 hours, and i'm feeling fine, no symptoms and no side effects, a little bit of pain in my arm. that's about it. we are going to see allergic reactions. they're going to be rare. not very common, and none of them has been very serious. it's okay. go ahead, when you get your chance, take the vaccine, that's the best thing i can tell you. >> really nothing to be frightened about, and of course millions of doses of the second vaccine to receive authorization, moderna, those shipments are going across the united states. how much smoother do you expect this rollout to be, and

natasha chen with us now. >> reporter: hi, fred. in the last 30 minutes or so, this advisory committee voted 13-1 on it is next two phases of who should be prioritized for this vaccine. as you just mentioned, we've already been seeing front line health care workers and long-term care facility residents getting this vaccine already. so, what we're seeing now is what they call the phase 1-b and 1-c they just voted on. let's look at that chart because what they're trying to balance here is saving lives, especially of the vulnerable as well as making sure society runs well. so, at phase 1-b, that's where most of the committee really agreed on this with no problem. we're talking about people age 75 and up as well as front line essential workers. that's, you know, teachers, firefighters, policemen, et cetera. the phase 1-c is kind of where we saw more debate among the committee members today because we're talking about 65 to 74-year-olds. we're talking about younger people with chronic health conditions. and that's where they were debatin

natasha chen, cnn, antioch, tennessee. >>> we're being told that january could be even more grim. some are saying that by the end of january 2021, we could be seeing upwards of 400,000 new cases a day. and some of their worst case models, maybe even a million infections every day. >> health experts are bracing for yet another surge in coronavirus cases. and that is the last thing the country needs right now. covid-19 has claimed the lives of one out of every 1,000 americans according to data from johns hopkins university. with four days left in december, the month is the deadliest for the u.s. since the pandemic began. more than 63,000 people have died this month bringing the total number of lives lost in the nation to nearly 332,000. but the vaccines are gradually getting into the arms of americans. officials say about 2 million doses have been administered across the country. in california, health care workers are pushed to the brink as cases soar are and hospitals run out of beds. paul ver cam mondcammen is at a site. >> reporter: the war against covid-19 in california being wa

cnn's natasha chen joins us now live from nashville. at tanatash natasha, we have former fbi special agent james gigliano on earlier. >> reporter: this is highly unusual to see a warning give out before an explosion. a 15-minute warn. people called 911. and when six officers arrived from metro nashville police, they heard that recorded message playing from an rv, telling people they had 15 minutes to see vac wai evacuate. this is a terrifying moment for individuals who live nearby. they heard that message, they heard that sound. police worked to get people to a safe place. one woman who evacuated told anderson cooper, she had hoped to spend christmas day lounging around, but here's what she said yesterday. >> we were on our way back down there. we saw the thing, the fireball went all the way up past the at&t. above the at&t building everything just -- i mean, everything shook. it was -- it was quite the blast. >> reporter: so, you're hearing her talk about her returning to her home. because she had already left it. she said when she was

cnn's natasha chen joining me from atlanta. so what kind of impact is this looming deadline having on families? >> a lot of people are very anxious, fred. in talking to tenants and housing advocates yesterday, the only thing clear is the lack of clarity. they don't know if there's going to be more assistance for the unemployed and whether there will be any tenant protections in the new year. 2020 has been a year of firsts for victoria gidens and none have been cause for celebration. in march, as the pandemic forced much of the economy closed, gidens, who had just accepted a job with a rental car company at the airport, had that offer rescinded. a first for 30-year-old gidens who lives with her boyfriend and their 2-year-old son. >> we have a 2-year-old to take care of. i was so depressed at the moment. >> reporter: two incomes in january became one by march. then as she struggled to find work and stay on top of some bills, another first. an eviction notice on her door telling her, she had to be out by january 6th. >> i am stres

natasha chen, cnn, atlanta, georgia. >>> things aren't getting any better in california.ands of people are getting infected each day and hospitals are in a massive strain. the covid tracking project counts more than 17,000 coronavirus patients in california hospitals right now. more than 3700 are in intensive care units. the heartbreak is unending. >> reporter: the covid-19 disaster continuing in california, 46,000 new cases, 161 deaths, that's lower, but the hospitalizations are just terrible. about 17,000 hospitalized, and 3 3600 in the intensive care units. they have expended the e.r. area into the icu units. when you talk to the nurses who face this daily, they are astounded by what's happening to these patients. a 39-year-old nurse says it's just getting to them. >> people that have no co-morbidities, have no health issues are in renal failure, heart failure, having blood clotting issues. unable to breathe, intubated. and, you know, you don't know what's going to happen or they'll pass away. what is so devastating about this virus. >> reporter: and another just sad s

back to you. >> our thanks to natasha chen there. now, cnn was able to talk to witnesses, like betsy williams. she says she was asleep when, what sounded like gunfire from an automatic weapon woke her up. here is what else she told cnn's anderson cooper. >> it was sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. i'm not exactly sure the first time we heard the gunshot. it was -- it sounded like an automatic weapon. it -- it -- and it was very loud, and it woke me up. it woke us up. and, you know, we didn't do anything, to start with, because just wake up. after you've heard that. well, then, we waited a few minutes and it happened again. and so, we called 911. >> did the first time -- sorry. sorry. just to be clear, the first time you heard it, how many shots did you hear in a row? >> i think it was -- it -- it -- you know, i didn't really count them but it was about, probably, eight to twelve. >> okay. >> you know, it was bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. like that. and it was very loud. >> and then, do you have a sense of how much time -- how

natasha chen is live on the scene in nashville, with the very latest. the key question now is why. motivation, when do we expect to learn? >> reporter: investigators are looking into anthony quinn warner's history, talking to people who knew him, because that is the major question. his name was brought up by investigators as the suspect yesterday. on saturday we watched federal agents go in and out of a home in antioch, tennessee, a neighborhood about ten miles southeast of where we are, gathering evidence. that's a home that was his until november 25th, when he signed a quitclaim deed giving the property over to a woman. so there are a lot of questions left to be answered. as you mentioned, there is this new video police shared late last night of this bright orange glow when the blast happened. that's exactly how responding officers described the harrowing situation to us. here's officer talking to us about those moment. >> i ran to the intersection to check on miller and make sure they were okay and both running toward the intersection as well. sorry, that's when i got on root to

cnn's national correspondent natasha chen has been following these developments. there's no manhunt at this point. but law enforcement was going in and out of that home all day. it signals they perhaps do not believe this is a continuing threat. >> reporter: we were at the antioch property for several hours watching teams work. by accounts from the neighbors, it seems like there were crews at the property pretty much all day. at first there was a bomb technician squad that went in to clear the property, making it safe to enter. than an evidence team showed up. they were documenting and photographing everything inside the house as it was. very meticulous, going through the yard area, in and out of a side door. we did see them take out bags of evidence, as well. in talking to the neighbors there, not a lot of them knew the person that lived at the house, but they realized an rv we showed via google street view. if we can show the view, it shows the rv parked there. in years past neighbors have seen it, recent weeks, the markings similar to the one shown in a police

. >> and we've got natasha chen down in nashville. what are you learning there, natasha?reporter: we're standing on second avenue where the blast happened but it's several blocks away because of the wide perimeter that's been set up. as you probably mentioned, investigators believe this to be the result of a likely suicide becoming according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation. and what they're doing right now is trying to work from the outside of the perimeter in so this is going to be very methodical. it's going to take a lot of time. the city expects to lift the curfew around this region of the downtown area later this afternoon. and, of course, yesterday we were standing in a neighborhood in antioch, tennessee, for many hours, ten miles southeast of where we are right now, we were watching for hours as agents were going in and out of a house there. the fbi told me they were executing court-authorized activity. we saw first a bomb technician team go in and clear the property so it would be safe to go in and an evidence team showed

natasha chen, cnn, antioch, tennessee. >>> so we know a bit more now than when we spoke yesterday. what do you make of the new developments? >> well, it is just as bizarre as everything else we heard. right now, it looks like the fbi is fairly certain that the remains found in the van were the -- were the perpetrator. so there is nobody outstanding. and so now motive becomes a real hard one because he's apparently at least as far as we know left no manifesto, no list of grievances, no reason for this bomb. and in that way it kind of brings up the shooting in las vegas, years ago. >> yeah. and i covered that one extensively and they still -- it is still quite a mystery. so take us through then how they're trying to solve that as they, i think, we're seeing pictures of them searching his home and so on. what exactly are they looking for and how can they crack that? >> well, they're going to be talking to anybody who knows him, anybody who has -- who has interacted with him in the past, well, as far back as they can go. they're also going to look at his electronic profile, his compute

natasha chen joins us from atlanta. what more are we learning from the cdc? >> reporter: this group voted today on the next two groups of people who should be prioritized for the vaccine. as you said already we're seeing people who are health care workers, folks in long term care facilities starting to be vaccinated. today's vote was about the next two phases. 1 b and 1 c. the next phase 1 b should be people 75 and older as well as front line essential workers. there really was no disagreement about that among the committee members. there was more debate about the next after that phase 1 c which includes now 65 and up as well as younger people with high risk medical conditions and other essential workers. the debate really was around that list of what is considered a high risk condition. right now the committee is going with a list that's on the cdc website. there is sufficient data with these conditions that show association with severe covid-19 and that includes things like obesity, diabetes, cancer, but the committee says that is by no means an exhaustive

natasha chen joins us live from nashville. what's the latest you're hearing? >> reporter: you mentioned the human remains. that's being looked at by the medical examiner's office. when we asked last night at a press conference, the police chief did confirm that tissue was found, believed to be human remains. he wouldn't tell us exactly where in the blast site those were found, whether it had anything to do with potentially someone inside the rv. he said they're still looking into all of that. and to keep in mind that the debris was really scattered across a large distance, and so it's still difficult as they're parsing through a lot of that. and we also have heard now of, of course, about the three people who were hospitalized. those are three civilians, luckily with nonlife-threatening injuries. the city also reallytalked abou efforts of the first police officers that came to the scene. the six officers came to the scene, they heard that ominous recorded message coming from the rv telling people they had 15 minutes before a bomb would go off, and those office

cnn's natasha chen has our story. >> reporter: we've seen people line up for food donations throughout this pandemic, but what you're seeing here is particularly bad timing. thousands of theme park workers have been laid off and as they're losing their paycheck one critical food donation resource is suddenly disappearing just when they need it most. amanda johnson and her husband made a living creating magic, but their fairytale ended when they were furloughed from the walt disney world resort. months later after florida parks reopened johnson was laid off, one of 32,000 u.s. disney employees expected to lose their jobs by march. >> i feel like drowning here and it's just the worst thing. people come here to have a good time and we're all suffering. >> reporter: one of their three children has autism and epilepsy. >> thinking about like one hospital visit would almost like bankrupt you. >> reporter: she says she's making food deliveries just to be able to give the kids a christmas and soon they will be hard pressed to pay the mortgage. former employees of disney, universal, sea world a

and cnn's natasha chen was there when federal agents searched the home.om antioch, tennessee. >> reporter: federal investigators have been at this property, most of saturday. and left in the early evening, after hours of work. the fbi tell us that this was court-authorized activity. first, we saw a bomb-technician team come and clear the property to make sure it was safe to enter. and then, we saw an evidence team come in, and spend hours going in and out of the house. this fence line, behind me, surrounds a yard. and we did see them go into that yard, through a side door. what we understand is that they were meticulously going through, documenting, and photographing, what they saw inside the house, as it was. and then, we did see them take out bags of evidence. neighbors were very perplexed to see all this going on. they did tell me that they have seen an rv parked at this property. when we showed them images from google street view of this property, in years past, when an rv has been parked there, they did recognize that one. one neighbor said they saw

and as cnn's natasha chen shows us, others are dealing with the stress of eviction. >> reporter: 2020irsts for victoria giddons and none have been cause for celebration. giddons, who had just accepted a job at the airport, had that offer rescinded. a first. >> we knew we had this 2-year-old to take care of, everything. >> reporter: two incomes in january, became one by march. then, as she struggled to find work and stay on top of some bills, another first. an eviction notice on her door, telling her she had to be out by january 6th. >> i'm -- i'll be stressed, every day. i just try not to let it show. >> reporter: especially, not in front of her son, who can sense when something's wrong. this year was also her first time ever asking for financial assistance just to pay their past-due rent. >> where does this put this client if we clear up the past-due rent? >> reporter: founder of the organization, caring for others. >> during covid-19 era, you have seen the rules change so much towards clients. and every day is a fight. >> reporter: the check for more than $4,400 came from donors she

and that's why we find cnn's natasha chen. natasha? >> reporter: dana, investigators left the scene just before 6:00 p.m. eastern time. we saw them work here for several hours this afternoon. the neighbors tell us they've been here all day. the fbi said they were executing court authorized activity. what we understand is first a bomb technician team cleared this property so it would be safe to enter, and an evidence team came in, and we saw them going in and out of the house, documenting and photographing everything inside, as they were, and bringing out bags of evidence. behind me is a fence here with a yard where they did go in through a side door. we saw them come in and out that way for several hours. neighbors did tell us they saw an rv parked here over the last few months. even in recent weeks, but did not know the person who lived at this property. dana? >> natasha, thank you for that. now to cnn crime and justice correspondent. shimon, how did investigators arrive at this latest theory you have been reporting on? >> reporter: r

. >> let's get straight to natasha chen live in nashville. natasha, what's the latest you're hearing from investigators? >> reporter: yeah, well, they're still working through this very large blast site. it happened on second avenue where we are, but many, many blocks away they're trying to keep people far back from here. you can see some of the flashing lights and police blocking off the perimeter in the background, but they really don't want people coming around this area of downtown. there is actually a curfew in place that started the afternoon of christmas day. it goes into sunday afternoon to try to keep people away. of course, if folks actually have businesses here, they can show photo i.d. to have police escort them in. that's another thing, the businesses here, the mayor said at least 41 businesses damaged in this historic part of nashville. this area was already relatively more quiet. this is holiday season compared to what nashville would typically see. because of covid-19 protocols and restrictions. then this happened just around t

this is the police chief for the first time publicly confirming to our colleague natasha chen that that is the person they believe is behind the bombing. i want to step out of the camera and show you what's going on behind me. there's several fbi agents and atf agents walking through that area, looking for pieces of evidence. we have seen this in other parts of the downtown area, but this is the first time we're seeing the investigators here getting closer to this area in their search. we have seen this over the course of the last two days, where the fbi scours the entire perimeter of the blast site looking for pieces of debris. now, i just want to get back to the breaking news here. for the first time, the police here publicly identifying the suspected bomber. what we are told also is the human remains that were found, this from sources, those human remains they believe belong to anthony quinn warner. authorities are not saying how it is that they know that these are his remains. they are waiting on dna information, but there is evidence and information that they have that makes them b

natasha chen joins me now with more. >> reporter: well, the investigators are working through the blast now opening up some of the perimeter streets now, but still the area where the explosion happened is under strict control, nobody can go near that. now anthony warner, it's interesting how they confirmed the identity of the suspect. a law enforcement source told cnn it was a tip about the rv that led them to his home in antioch tennessee, about 10 miles southeast of where i'm standing. that's where we watched agents on saturday going in maand out the house. we saw an rv with similar markings that could be seen there. neighbors told me they have seen that rv there before. we now know police have shared the incredible video of the explosion happening, this giant orange fireball and in that video you can see one officer actually walking away from the rv seconds before the explosion. here's officer james wells talking about that moment. >> you watch the video, you can see that moment of clarity for me when i heard god say go and check on toppy. i was peeking around looking like this, no,

the please chief here telling our colleague natasha chen that anthony quinn western are werner, 63, is a person of interest. sources that i have talked to have said that they believe it's wenners remains they found at the scene. the fbi and atf are waiting to confirm the human remains, but authorities believe they block to this individual. as we've said, authorities believe this was a suicide bombing. ed whole question is if they can't i had the human remains, how do they know this is the person? i'm told they have other things they have discovered that puts this individual at the scene here. that's what they've done here. is authorities are trying to find dna, and trying to get family members to give them dna so they have something to compare it to. as we've been saying, authorities are not looking for anyone in connection to this the level of threat is low, authorities have said. that's because they believe the person responsible at this point they believe is dead. >> shimon, is anything more being said about whether there were potential other people involved, or whether they believe

go to national correspondent natasha chen live on the ground in nashville. natasha, we may have to break away as soon as the press conference begins. really, the biggest update we have just over the last half hour from josh campbell and others, reporting that human remains, believed to be human remains have been found near the site. >> reporter: that's right. that's something that will be asked at the press conference in a few minutes. we're expecting to hear from the mayor who is actually instituting a curfew around the area of the blast site. that started at 4:30 local time this afternoon, will go through sunday afternoon as well. this is to try to keep people away from the downtown core where investigators are really working on this. where we are now, media are gathered, where the press conferences are happening is on second avenue but several blocks away from where the explosion happened this morning. you can see flashing lights in the distance where they blocked it off. you can also see there's pretty much nobody on the streets. that's what a lot of down

cnn's natasha chen joins me live in nashville and cnn's justice correspondent evan perez has been following sthoory all morning. natasha, let's begin with you. i know you're a few blocks from the scene. what are you seeing on the ground? >> reporter: yeah, bianna, this is where media is allowed to be stan staged right now. law enforcement is keeping us way back from the perimeter for good reason. this is about four blocks away from the edge of their perimeter, and i can have us kind of push in to show what we can see from our angle here. you see the police car with a taped-off area there, and far in the distance there is a maroon rur rust-colored building. this is where the rv was parked and exploded. cnn spoke to witnesses who live in a nearby building. they have videos of their own homes with a lot of damage inside their home as well, so a very frightening experience for the people who were woken up very early this morning trying to figure out what was going on. as far as the downtown nashville area, a lot of the streets are blocked off. police have really tried to seal this off here. a l

cnn national correspondent natasha chen is following these developments. natasha, no manhunt at this point. law enforcement going in and out of that home all day. they say they're at a point in this investigation where they're draw something conclusions. it does not -- they do not believe this is a continued threat, it appears. >> reporter: that's right. and the law enforcement did say at a press conference yesterday afternoon in this spot on 2nd avenue blocks away from where the explosion happened, you know, they said they're following more than 500 tips that have come in after all that law enforcement did ask the public for tips, anything that they know to be called into the fbi. they're combing through all of that right now. they also explained how they are working this scene behind us from the outside in. going from the outer edges of the perimeter in. and so this is going to take some time even though the curfew that is around this downtown area supposedly lifts this afternoon at 4:30 local time. you know, you mentioned the scene at antioch, tennessee,

the please chief here telling our colleague natasha chen that anthony quinn western are werner, 63, is a person of interest. sources that i have talked to have said that they believe it's

. >> natasha chen is in coffee county tennessee. there and do they know why? >> jim and poppy, we are hearing from governor billie he feels this is people's thanksgiving choices catching up with them right now. we're at the fairgrounds which has turned into a testing site. we see cars, people lining up to take their tests right now. tennessee broke its daily record of cases on wednesday, more than 11,000 cases alone. we're seeing issues in the eastern part of the state. "the new york times" has been putting together lists of the top cities seeing the worst. one list seeing the worst right now, the greatest number of cases, adjusted for population, tennessee makes that list three times. and another list "the new york times" has done is where it could get bad. this list is where case numbers are rising the fastest and tennessee makes that list six times. if you look at just how tennessee has done so far in the moving average of daily cases, you see that graph just skyrocketing, especially since october, november. and, you know, if you

cnn's natasha chen is live in nashville with the latest. what is the latest at this hour, natasha? >> well, alisyn, investigators are still working at the scene, several blocks away from us. but yesterday in this spot, investigators named anthony quinn warner as the suspect. the u.s. attorney for the middle district of tennessee said he was here when the bomb went off and died in the explosion. this is a relatively fast process to get him identified. they used fragments of the rv and the blast to get a vehicle identification number, to trace back to the owner. they also found human tissue that was quickly processed at quanti quantico along with other dna samples. police released late last night that new video of the blast. that orange glow and those harrowing moments. and you also see an officer in that video walking away from it in the seconds right before. that's officer james wells. here's what he said about that. >> you watch the video, you can see that moment of clarity for me, when i heard the guy say, go and check on him. so i was peeking around, looking like this and this.

natasha chen is joining us right now. these are difficult choices.about today's decision. >> wolf, you could tell from the sound of the voices of the committee members on this livestream meeting today that they really struggled to have to put any americans over others. but that's a necessity at this point because of the limited doses of vaccine that's currently out there. but what you were talking about just now, the 75 and up as well as the front line essential workers, that's what they call phase 1b. the very first phase is under way. those are health care workers, people in long-term care facilities, those are the images you're seeing of people getting vaccinated. what they voted on today was that group that we just mentioned, 75 and up, frontline essential, and then the phase after that is going to be 65 and up. younger people with high-risk medical conditions as well as other essential workers. that last phase is what they spent more time debating because what is a high-risk medical condition? right now that list includes obesity, diabetes, canc

cnn's natasha chen explains. >> reporter: much of downtown nashville is under curfew which began christmasay into sunday afternoon. that's to keep people away from the investigation scene that now stretches several balocks. debris scattered everywhere. again, this happened early christmas morning when people first heard gunshots. called 911. then an odd sound coming from an rv giving a countdown 15 minutes until the explosion. the mayor of nashville said every 41 businesses were destroyed. three people hospitalized with nonlife-threatening injuries. the mayor said this is intended to create chaos but the city will be resilient and rebuild. >> my message is expect a knock on your door. it's going to be a puzzle, a mystery for some period of time, but i expect them to solve it. and they're bringing the resources to bear to be able to resolve it. this should not be america where you have violence on the streets. >> reporter: though they don't know who it is now, the mayor said the city will be resilient, back to you. >> cnn spoke with the witness betsy williams. she said the scary ordeal bega

natasha chen joins us with the latest. >> reporter: brianna, tennessee broke its record wednesday for daily case count, more than 11,000 cases that day alone. it is the only state in the nation with more than 50% increase in cases last week compared to the week before. a lot of issues in the eastern part of the state. "new york times" made a couple of lists showing where it is worst in the country now. unfortunately, tennessee made the lists a number of times, and that includes the city next to where we are now, seeing one of the fastest rises in case numbers adjusted for population. brianna? >> all right, natasha, thank you so much. let's talk with a medical expert. want to speak with public health specialist. i think, dr. matthew, people are wondering when they look at something like southern california where they have zero capacity in the icu, what does that mean for patients who need to go to the hospital and may need to be in the icu? >> right. so that basically means there's no room in the inn, brianna, and that's unfortunate. you know, i looked back to see how far we have come

let's get right to cnn's natasha chen. what is the cdc saying now? >> well, a little over an hour ago, the advisory committee voted 13-1 to approve the next two groups who should be prioritized for this vaccine. what we've already been seeing is people who are front line health care workers, people in long-term care facilities, they've already been getting the vaccine this past week. what they voted on today were the next two groups, 1-b and 1-c. who's in 1-b? front line essential workers, people like first responders, teachers, grocery store workers as well as people aged 75 and older. then after that phase 1-c includes a group 65 to 74, as well as younger people with high-risk medical conditions and other essential workers. so, a lot of the debate today was not actually about this next 1-b group. everybody was in agreement with that. it was the 1-c group and what conditions should be considered as high risk. what they came up with was taking a list that's currently with sufficient evidence showing association with severe covid-19, including things

. >>> i'm natasha chen, a cdc committee voted on which next phase of people should be prioritized forcine. we have seen health care workers, as well as residents of long-term care facilities start to be vaccinated. the next group include people 75 and up, as well as front line essential workers like first responders, teachers, grocery store workers. the phase after that will include people 65 and up, younger people are high risk medical conditions and other essential workers. >>> i'm polo sandoval in new york where starting today some of the most vulnerable in the state will be getting their shots in the arms. cvs and walgreens sending their staff to long-term health care facilities to administer the first dose of covid-19 vaccines to residents and staff. three weeks after administering the first dose, walgreens employees will be returning to administer second rounds, places such as nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers have been devastat devastated by the pandemic across the country. >>> help is finally on the way for millions of struggling americans as lawmakers reached a deal s

cnn's natasha chen is in nashville near the scene of the explosion, and josh campbell is getting it tadetails from law enforcement officials. what's the situation on the ground? >> well, anderson, it is very quiet here. and for anyone who has spent time in the historic downtown area of nashville knows this is a typically a bustling area. a lot has changed with covid-19 protocols, but now with this perimeter behind us, it's absolutely quiet. we're on second avenue where this explosion happened, but several blocks away, you could see the police cars there with their flashing lights and the tape blocking things off. where this happened, far off in the distance, you can see this rusty colored taller building there. that's approximately where the blast happened this morning. as you mentioned, police have put out a picture now of the rv they believe to be at the center of this that had come onto this street overnight. you know, this is really shaking people. we even saw some folks who had come into town for christmas come up to us within the last hour just to share their support for nashville and p

getting more now from natasha chen in nashville. she spoke with the mayor about how the city is dealing with the aftermath. >> reporter: much of downtown nashville is under a curfew that began, the afternoon of christmas day, and goes into sunday afternoon. and that's to really keep people away from the investigation scene, that now stretches several blocks. debris scattered everywhere. again, this happened early, christmas morning. when people first heard gunshots, called -- called 911. and then, there was the odd sound of a recorded message coming from an rv, giving a countdown, 15 minutes, until an explosion. the mayor of this -- of nashville said that at least 41 businesses were destroyed. three people, three civilians, hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. the mayor said that this was intended to create chaos, but that the city will be resilient and rebuild. >> my message is expect a knock on your door. you know? it's going to, i think, be a puzzle, a mystery, for some period of time. but i expect them to solve it, a