i'm paula newton, and this is "cnn newsroom."

i'm paula newton.be back in just a moment with more news. ♪ >>> he's accuse israeli of assassinating a top scientist. >>> dire predictions as americans ignore warn, for travel on the holidays. >>> and president trump still spreading misinformation as his legal team suffers yet another defeat. live from cnn headquarters in atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the united states

i'm paula newton and this is "cnn newsroom."tate of georgia ground zero in the battle for control of the all-important u.s. senate. and republican strategists and state leaders are getting increasingly worried that georgia's gop voters may not turn out to vote in the january 5th senate runoffs there, specifically because of the party's own baseless attacks on the integrity of the election. president trump on twitter trying to find a work-around telling his supporters they must show up and vote for gop senators david purdue and kelly loeffler, even though the election was a quote total sham. of course that is not true. cnn's ryan nobles was in atlanta for an unusual exchange between the republican national committee chairwoman and some georgian republican voters. >> reporter: winning at least one of these races in georgia is crucial for republicans. they need to do that if they want to retain the majority in the united states senate. but things are off to a bit of a rocky start. on saturday, the republican chairwoman, ronna mcdan

i'm paula newton, and this is "cnn newsroom." >>> thursday's thanksgiving celebrations in the united states were perhaps the most difficult many americans have faced in their lifetimes. the families of well over a quarter million people in the united states who have died of covid-19 had to mark the holiday without their loved ones. more than 90,000 americans, meantime, could not be with their families because they're fighting for their lives in hospital. that's the highest number since the pandemic began and the 17th straight day of record hospitalizations. and the countless medical staff who care for them also had to sacrifice being at home with their loved ones. current trends point to even more suffering as the nation and the world look ahead to a much different christmas season and hanukah. u.s. president-elect joe biden and his wife spent part of the holiday making video calls with front line medical and emergency workers. on thursday, they posted this message to let americans know they are not struggling alone. >> i know this isn't the way many of us hoped we'd spend our holida

i'm paula newton. live, from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we will get straight to our top story, now. and this, in fact, has been a holiday season like we've never seen before. thanksgiving has come to a close here in most of the united states. and with the coronavirus surging right across the country, we want to take a moment to think about the people directly affected. more than 1,200 americans died from covid-19 on thursday, alone. and more than 90,000 others spent the holiday away from their families, in hospital. it's the 17th-straight day of record hospitalizations. now, data from johns hopkins university shows cases are still on the rise in 13 u.s. states, and a reminder, they've plateaued in other states at very high levels. another 110,000 people were diagnosed with the virus in the past day. >>> president-elect joe biden, meantime, spent the day making video calls to frontline workers, including nurses and firefighters, whom he praised as the heroes of this crisis. and he posted this me

i'm paula newton, and this is "cnn newsroom." >>> iran is accusing israel of carrying out an assassinationf its top scientist and vowing, quote, severe revenge. president hassani told the cabinet that iran will respond in time and iran's supreme leader promised retaliation. so far, israel, has been silenced about the ambushed killing of the mastermind of the government. cnn's nick paton walsh explains. >> reporter: the scientist lived largely in the silence. gunned down friday in an apparent assassination according to state media. he was travel in the city east of tehran, when reports say his car was targeted by gunfire and a vehicle explosion. iran's defense ministry says he and his bodyguards were gravely wounded, succumbing to their injuries at the hospital a short time later. believed to be 59, he's said to have headed the research of new technology in the country's elite revolutionary guards. israel intelligence services say he was the mastermind behind project ahmad, a decade-long secret program design-to-design an atomic warhead. that was scrubbed in 2003, but claimed he continued h

paula newton, cnn, toronto. >> well, scientists have discovered evidence of catastrophic flooding onthat took place nearly 4 billion years ago. nasa's curiosity rover captured images from a crater on the planet. they show channels and ripple patterns carved by water. scientists think the heat from a meteor vaporized frozen reservoirs, all of those billions of years ago. that in turn produced floods and brought about a warm and rainy season. >>> well, in washington, d.c., the smithsonian national zoo's giant panda cub finally has a name. the public voted online to name the furry fellow mandarin for little miracle. it symbolizes the hope he brought during the pandemic, and the 3-year-old excels at napping, nursing and cuddling with his mother. >>> every year at thanksgiving, the president performs a very special duty. he pardons a lucky turkey. in the coming hours, president trump will do just that for corn or cob. both will live to tell about the experience but only one will go down in history as the national turkey. >>> i think this event is great today because lord knows 2020 has be

i'm paula newton., from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we will get straight to our top story, now. and this, in fact, has been a holiday season like we've never seen before. thanksgiving has come to a close

. >> reporter: i'm paula newton in atlanta.returned from toronto on the weekend where that city is now on a second lockdown. spiking cases, the icus close to capacity. and public health officials there say they simply had no choice. this lockdown means that basically all nonessential services, all those stores, salons, barbers, any indoor dining even on a patio now banned. kids, though, will stay in school. the fear now, people wonder will it work? they will find out in the next four weeks and see if they will remain in lockdown through christmas. >> reporter: i'm jab lycqueline howard in atlanta. the risk of covid-19 still appears your in young people under 25 but more concern may be warranted for those with underlying health conditions and those from black, hispanic, and asian communities due to racial disparities. and those older in age like teens and older adults. the data was based on 135,000 pediatric patients tested for covid-19. among those patients, about 5,000 or 4% tested positive. 359 of them were hospitalized, and

my colleague and friend, paula newton, will be back with more news, in just a moment.usinesses today are looking to tomorrow. adapting. innovating. setting the course. but new ways of working demand a new type of network. one that's more than just fast. you need flexibility- to work from anywhere and manage from everywhere. advanced technology. with serious security. and reliable coverage, nationwide. forward-thinking enterprises deserve forward-thinking solutions. and that's what we deliver. so bounce forward, with comcast business. >>> iran vows revenge after its top nuclear scientist was killed in an apparent assassination. >>> the u.s. hits a new covid milestone, 13 million cases. the cdc prepares to decide who will get the first vaccine. >>> and a new legal defeat for donald trump and some blistering words from the court. he tries to have legitimate election results overturned. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, i want to welcome our viewers here in the united states, canada, and around the wo

cnn's paula newton has the details. >> reporter: its nickname is toronto the good and canada's largest city comes by it honestly. toronto was so compliant nearly everyone wearing masks, following doctor's orders t crushed the covid-19 curve in spring, a curve that public health officials is spiking out of control now. daily cases have nearly doubled in a matter of weeks, icus are near capacity and with 1,500 coronavirus deaths and counting in this city, officials say a second lockdown as strict as the first, save for keeping schools open, must be enforced to avoid a worst case scenario. >> we're in a lot of trouble, and so our public health officials and our elected leaders decided there was no other choice but to take a big step back. >> reporter: that step back means a return to lining up for groceries, shutting down all in-person dining, even outdoors, all non-essential in-store shopping, salons, gyms, now shut down for at least four weeks. >> it's challenging obviously for us but it's our societal obligation to do it. >> reporter: that obligation extends to staying home and seeing

i'm paula newton. this is "cnn newsroom."land is technically under a national lockdown right now. but take a look at the scene in london saturday. protesters took to the streets. it wasn't altogether peaceful. they arrested more than 150 people for various offenses. scott mclain that has the latest on the protests from london and jim bitterman is outside paris for us with more on europe's fight against covid-19. we go to you, scott. a lot of emotion on the streets. i get the idea that it wasn't a very large protest. even though they did end up clashing with police. what's at issue there right now? >> yeah. at first glance the timing of this seems odd. the lockdown restrictions are set to end on wednesday, but that doesn't mean there will be no restrictions at all after that. in fact, the country will be divided into counties and they'll each have their unique set of restrictions you should a tier system, and the vast majority of places, well, you won't be allowed to socialize with people outside of your own household indoors.

cases across canada are spiking dramatically, as cnn's paula newton explains. >> for six months, canada'sc bubble has been a sanctuary. nearly 2.5 million people living mostly covid free. >> it doesn't really matter. i can have more than that, too. >> reporter: just listen to erica baker, a child psychologist and mother of three, getting her kids ready to go to school. >> right now, things have been very normal for them. it's been wonderful. >> normal. wonderful, even. the bubble has made it possible. >> by, guys. >> at its outer edge, the atlantic bubble is just a six-hour drive from boston, but a world away from the current covid reality. it includes four provinces, new brunswick, nova scotia, prince edward island, and newfoundland and labrador. going into the bubble from anywhere, even the rest of canada, you have to quarantine for 14 days, and mask wearing, aggressive testing and case contacting has had cases close to zero for months. >> they have provided us with the right information so far, and i don't think that there's any reason to not trust that they're going to do the right th