Is detected in the United States just as there are new predictions of a much higher potential death toll. Donald trump left the white house, but many republicans are refusing to leave him. We have the latest as some Party Members swear their loyalty to the former president. And the sub reddit page that has wall street in a spin. The latest on gamestops Crazy Ride On wall street. Live from cnn World Headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, canada and around the world. Im Kim Brunhuber. This is cnn newsroom. A new forecast warns that more contagious strains of the coronavirus could cause an additional 85,000 deaths in the u. S. By may. The first two cases of the variant first detected in south africa have now been confirmed in the u. S. Its already circulating in at least 30 other countries. Two americans who have it dont know each other and havent traveled abroad. Now this variant may make at least one potential new vaccine less effective. Drug maker novovax shows u. K. Trials show 85 effectiveness but only 60 in south african trials. The easy spread may complicate u. S. Vaccination efforts which are lagging in many states. Heres nick watt. Reporter the more contagious variant first found in south africa is here. Two cases just confirmed in different parts of south carolina. There is no known travel history and theres no known connection between the two cases. These first documented infections actually happened weeks ago. All this means the mutation is spreading on american soil, and lab tests of this variant versus the vaccine, the vaccine is diminished by multifold in its ability to cover it. Its still within the range of what you would predict to be protective, but i take no great comfort in that. Reporter still fewer than 15 million vaccine doses distributed, a little over than half of them actually in arms. On the administration side there is some delay in reporting. In these states more than half the doses are still sitting in the freezer. Maybe States Holding back second doses . We need to make sure thats available for them when they return for their second shot. When you do all that math, you still end up with some millions of doses that are sitting on the shelf and have not yet been administered. 20,000 National Guard already deployed to the effort. Fema now asking for more help. Up to 10,000 active duty could be deployed. We are actively considering support for the Vaccine Effort and are prepared to certainly do so. Reporter the various variants now circulating here also impact tests, says the fda. There may be a difference going forward. Reporter testing never quite reached the numbers needed and now its falling. Right now average new case counts are falling all across the country, but still averaging over 160,000 new cases every day, and those faster spreading variants are now going to overlay on top of that very high baseline. So what we can expect to see in the course of the next i think 6 to 14 weeks is something that we havent even come close to experiencing yet. Reporter the superintendent of schools here in los angeles, the second biggest district in the nation, said maybe schools can reopen here and across the country. More schools sometime later in the spring. The word maybe is doing a lot of work there. He wants to have all staff in this district vaccinated before the schools open, and the Infection Rate here is going to have to drop dramatically before those schools can reopen. Nick watt, cnn, los angeles. Health officials are particularly worried about forbearance. The south african strain plus others from brazil, the u. K. And a new one emerging in california. Earlier cnn chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta discussed these variants with our chris cuomo. So the numbers are starting to come down in cases and now we start getting the variants, and it raises a question that people dont want to ask, let alone answer, which is are these variants going to force, should we expect, lockdowns . Because if they spread so much more quickly and we know we dont have the Mask Compliance we need, is it going to change the case rate and require more extreme compliance . Youre right, no one wants to hear this, chris. I look at the data and understand what is happening in other countries. We talked to Clarissa Ward in the u. K. Yesterday. Its a dire situation, the transmissibility of the u. K. Variant has really reeked a lot of transmissibility over there. Let me show you the sort of important numbers here if we have them. If something is more lethal than more contagious. Play it out. Play it out for six months. A generation is five days. What happens after a month, after six generations, you get far more deaths from something being more contagious versus being more lethal. Basically its more contagious, therefore its likely to spread to vulnerable populations, therefore encounters where you werent likely to get infected before become higher risk, grocery stores, whatever it may be. Thats how you get a much higher case fatality rate. What causes shutdowns . People will see those numbers but i can tell you what ultimately drives it is whats happening in hospitals. You start to get hospitals that are overwhelmed, they have no more space and they call the leaders and they say, look, weve got no escape hatch here. Youve got to stop transmission and the most effective way to do that is to just basically stop people actually coming together in any way for a period of time. Who knows. I dont think the country is ready for it. They dont wear masks. That would be an effective strategy, at least for a period of time. The economic fallout has caused the biggest contraction in the u. S. Economy since 1946, the year after world war ii ended. President joe biden has a price tag of almost 2 trillion. Political divisions mean that quick passage isnt likely. Cnns Phil Mattingly reports. The first thing we have to do is get this Covid Package passed. Reporter President Bidens goal of a bipartisan Covid Package may be slipping away. Reporter the white house and allies ready to press forward. Republicans can vote for this. Reporter Top White House officials continue to have discussions with republicans in search of a path forward. He wants this to be a bipartisan package. Hes listening to democrats and republicans, we all are, to ensure thats what it looks like at the end of the day. Reporter biden has also made clear splitting key elements out to reach a deal is not on the table. Time is of the essence and i must tell you im reluctant to cherry pick and take out one or two items here and then have to go through it again because these all are kind of they go sort of hand in glove. Reporter and democrats on capitol hill are increasingly convinced a deal with any republicans on bidens 1. 9 trillion proposal simply not possible, sources say. The smartest thing we can do is act big. Reporter and they are ready to push ahead on a partisan basis. We would hope that we would have bipartisan cooperation, but were not taking any tools off the table should they not. Reporter all as the depth of the economic destruction comes to light. The u. S. Economy contracted 3. 5 in 2020, the first annual decline since the 2008 financial crisis and the worst drop since 1946. The damage from the pandemic also driving bidens newest Executive Action on obamacare. The man who made bfd famous. [ bleep ]. Reporter now reopening enrollment for the law whose deal was so big as he presses to undo his predecessors efforts to kill the law. Basically the best way to describe it, undo the damage trump has done. Reporter while President Bidens days have focused on Executive Actions, that covid relief package, 1. 9 trillion proposal is the focal point of the administration right now. The president , as i noted in the piece, has been reaching out to republicans. Spoken to two republican senators behind the scenes, rob portman of ohio, Susan Collins of maine, seeing if they can bring them along. The reality right now both on capitol hill and the white house, there is a recognition that a bipartisan proposal given how big democrats want to go, democrats including President Biden seems very out of reach at the moment but they have the numbers right now. No matter how slim those margins are to get something passed. Both biden and his top economic advisers have said going big and acting fast is the number one priority. The number one priority wont get republicans support. Phil mattingly, cnn, the white house. In a few hours u. S. President joe biden will be visiting wounded u. S. Soldiers. Hes to visit with troops at the Walter Reed Military Center in bethesda, maryland. The white house hasnt released any other details yet. The chief judge of Federal Court in washington, d. C. , scolded capitol riot suspects on thursday. He said it wasnt a peaceful protest on january 6th but was an attack on the peaceful transfer of power. Suspect Richard Barnet who bragged about sitting at a desk at speaker Nancy Pelosis office is still in jail. Hes shown a disregard for the law and poses a threat. U. S. Capitol police on wednesday arrested a man who say they had a gun and 20 rounds of ammunition near the u. S. Capitol. The 71yearold West Virginia man was taken into custody and he started angrily shouting at National Guard troops. He had stop the steal paperwork and Contact Information of senators and representatives. Republicans lost the white house, senate and house during Donald Trumps single term, so why do some of them still believe he can help republicans regain majority control two years from now . Well explain coming up after a short break. Stay with us. One or two clicks and everything was up and running. I was printing out labels and saving money. Shipstation saves us so much time. It makes it really easy and seamless. Pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and its ready to go. Our costs for shipping were cut in half. Just like that. Shipstation. The 1 choice of online sellers. Go to shipstation. Com tv and get 2 months free. Robinhood believes now is the time to do money shipstation. The without the commission of fees and account minimums. So, you can start investing today, wherever you are even on the bus. Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. The deadly riot at the u. S. Capitol on january 6th has many lawmakers deeply concerned for their own safety. The acting Capitol Police chief has proposed ringing the capitol with a fence but its not popular. They dont want the peoples house to become a fortress and House Democratic leader nancy pelosi says the Security Threat isnt just outside the capitol, she said its also coming from other lawmakers. I do believe, and i have said this all along, that we will probably need a supplemental for more security for members when the enemy is within the house of representatives, a threat that members are concerned about in addition to what is happening outside. Former President Trump may have retired to florida, but his influence within the Republican Party is as potent as ever. Despite the deadly attack on the u. S. Capitol, some cling to President Trump as the key to their political futures. Heres cnns jeff zeleny. Reporter the American Flag is proudly waiving at former President Trumps maralago resort, but the shining sun belies the Storm Brewing inside the Republican Party. Kevin mccarthy, the house gop leader made a pilgrimage to florida hoping to get back into the former president s good graces after angering trump. The president bears responsibility for wednesdays attack on congress by mob rioters. Reporter mccarthy has been backpedaling ever since making clear he still sees trump as the leader of the Republican Party, a view not shared by Senate Minority leader Mitch Mcconnell who hasnt spoken to trump in more than a month. The maralago meeting was focused on taking back the house in 2022 adding his endorsement means perhaps more than any endorsement at any time. With his looming impeachment trial, trump remains front and center in the Republican Party even as it faces an identity crisis. In a private call with House Republicans this week mccarthy admonished his members to stop the in fighting cnn has learned bluntly saying to cut that crap out with no more attacks on one another but hes done little to actually stop it with florida congressman gates traveling to wyoming to try taking down liz ch cheney, the number three House Republican who called for impeachment. If you want to prove you have the power, defeat liz cheney in this upcoming election and wyoming will bring washington to its knees. The gop turmoil is playing out as a series of side shows, none louder than Marjorie Taylor greene who deleted her social media posts. Enough is enough. Enough is enough. Thats what happens. People will still do mass shootings. Being used by the left because youre young. Reporter the congresswoman who has promoted qanon Security Theories was given a plumb seat on the house Education Committee. They said the party is at a dangerous crossroads. Shes not a republican. I dont think she should have any committees. A fear of reining in fringe republican elements has created an opening for democrats which Speaker Nancy Pelosi seized on today. Assigning her to the Education Committee when she has mocked the killing of little children at sandy hook elementary school, when she has mocked the killing of teenagers in high school at marjorie stone ham douglas high school, what could they be anything. David hogg, the Parkland Student who was the subject of Taylor Greenes harassment telling cnn he had a message for leader mccarthy. If you say this is not your party, actually call it out and hold her accountable. Just a week after Donald Trump Left Office clearly in disgrace after a second impeachment, many republicans said it was time to turn the page but House Republican leader Kevin Mccarthy made it clear the gop is still the party of donald trump. Jeff zeleny, cnn, washington. Cnn Politics White House reporter Steven Paulsen joins me from washington. After the election i spoke to plenty of experts, im sure you did as well, this was it, Donald Trumps incitement of the insurrection would give them the cover they needed to distance themselves and make the Republican Party more than the party of trump, a few high profile republicans seemed to have taken some hesitant steps and came scurrying back. Of all the ways republicans showed their feelty to trump, what surprised you the most . I think what surprised me the most, kim, is nine days into the Biden Administration the fight for democracy that took place during the last few weeks and months of the Trump Administration isnt over. In fact, it may be just beginning. The forces in the Republican Party that supported and lifted and were exploited by donald trump are very much alive and far from learning the lesson of his defeat, the loss of the house and the loss of the senate over his four year term, those Radical Extremist Voices in the Republican Party are doubling down. Theyve decided, i think, that the future of their party lies with trump and trumps voters. You asked the question rhetorically in your excellent piece there. The question is, is yet another doubling down on Grassroots Fury and the trump base the best way to win back americans, especially those in suburban areas who rejected the expresident , lost the house to the senate in a single fourterm year . The answer seems to be yes and no depending whether youre talking about the house or the senate. Explain the contrast here. Because as you say, they lost everything. Why would you double down on that . Thats right. Now one of the reasons why the house and senate are different is because a lot of the districts in the house have been gerrymandered. Theyve been drawn by the parties in such a way that its very difficult for them lose. You get bunches of Republican Voters put in one district, bunches of democratic voters put in another district. What that really means is in