Cavalry is not here yet so what we should do is that we should make the hope of a vaccine, motivate us even more to be very very stringent and very very attentive to fundamental simple doable Public Health measures. It might be stating the obvious here but these vaccines cannot come soon enough. Monday was the third worst day ever for the spread of the coronavirus in the united states. At least 100,000 cases per day for two weeks straight. Moderna says its vaccine candidate was nearly 95 effective at blocking infection and critically here, it doesnt need to be kept at temperatures as ultra cold as pfizers vaccine does. Americans everywhere now clinging to hope with more patients in hospitals than at any time in the entire pandemic. Officials are warning the winter surge could push some medical centers to the breaking point. There is a fixed resource, not just hospital beds and protect, but also respiratory therapists, doctors, nurses, janitorial staff and when those resources get stretched, at some point the entire system does break down. Some of the areas hit hardest by the current surge in cases are also the least equipped to handle them. Cdc data Shows Americans in rural areas are dying at nearly 3 1 2 times the rate of those in urban centers. Ahead of thanksgiving, more cities and states are tightening their restrictions, most notably in iowa where half the tests are now coming back positive for covid. The state now mandating masks just weeks after the governor basically ruled that out. Restrictions also tightened in chicago, philadelphia, and new york city. A harsh reality for Business Owners struggling to keep the lights on. We each time we open, were sitting all day. Theres no customers, so we end up just shutting down and let the employee go. The statistics mean jobs, they mean hardship, and its awful for a lot of people right now. President trumps refusal to coordinate with the Biden Transition Team could slow down delivery of this much needed vaccine. President elect biden had a blunt warning about the consequences if the white house obstruction drags on. Cnns jessica dean is live this morning with the biden team in wilmington, delaware. Jessica, nice to see you this morning. I thought it was interesting that joe biden, the president elect, was sort of measured in how hopeful he was about the vaccine news yesterday but at the same time saying weve got a long way to go. Yeah, exactly. Good morning to you, laura. Great to be with you this morning as well. It was interesting to see the president elect really draw out those two contrasting thoughts. He has made a great effort, his whole campaign was about this, and now the transition as well to really project confidence and competence, as we head into this transition period. Yesterday we did hear him excited about the vaccine but also warning americans, look, this isnt anywhere close to over yet. We are entering a really really dark and scary period, and he made the point yesterday to really dial up his pressure on the Trump Administration to allow them to coordinate on Vaccine Distribution. Thats going to be a giant logistical process. Take a listen. More people may die if we dont coordinate. They say they have this Warp Speed Program that they not only dealt with getting vaccines but also how to distribute this. If we have to wait until january 20th to start that planning, it puts us behind over a month, month and a half. And just a reminder, the Biden Transition Team and team of efforts has not been allowed to formally contact the administration and any of the federal officials who are planning for the Vaccine Distribution because President Trumps refused to concede, and thus the General Services administration has refused to sign off on the official transition process, laura. So all of this slowing this down and biden making the case there that lives are at stake right n now. Also of note, he called on congress to pass a stimulus package in the lame duck session coming up. And jessica, the Vice President elect and the president elect will be getting a National Security briefing today. Its from a team of diplomatic intelligence and defense experts were told, not actually the fbi or any other government officials. Behind the scenes, how worried are people going about this. We have been talking for days about the fact that theyre not getting the briefings they need. Yeah, right. Theyre not, and at this point in any other typical election that is comparable to the one we just went through, the president elect would be getting those president ial daily briefings, which are all of the bullet points on whats important in the National Security of the country, whats coming in. Now, biden yesterday did point out that as a sitting member of the Senate Intelligence committee, his colleague and Vice President , soon to be Vice PresidentKamala Harris does receive those briefings. That being said, even john kelly, the Trump Administration chief of staff has called on the Trump Administration to administer these briefings to president elect biden saying National Security is at stake here. This could be catastrophic if something happened. When you go back to 2000, the Bush Administration did say that theyre slowing down the transition process because it took so long to get election sorted out, hampers them as they headed into their administration, and if september 11th had happened at the beginning of their term, it could have been very very serious consequences for that nonseamless transition because of the delay, so that is what theyre facing behind the scenes, and they know that, and whats interesting is that last week we started to see some republicans, some republican senators even, bubbling to the surface. James langford saying hell step in if president elect biden doesnt get this. Now hes walking back the comments. Theyre not aligned on where they are. The fact of the matter is biden should be getting these and hes not. Senator langford said he was going to step in last friday, and now he says hes had some back channels with the General Services administration, but yet to see any breakthrough there. Jessica, thank you. Well see you back in a little bit. Breaking overnight, the New York Times reports that President Trump asked senior aides last week about possibilities for a strike on irans primary nuclear site. Trumps question came one day after International Officials said irans stockpiles of yur ra uranium reached 12 times. They warned it could turn into a full fledged tensions with iran, making it harder for president elect biden to reenter the nuclear deal should he accuse to do so. The report in the times came hours after cnn learned that the u. S. Military expects the president will order further troop withdrawals from afghanistan and iraq. That goes against the advice of former defense secretary mark esper who was fired shortly after making his thoughts known on the matter. Cnns ryan browne has more on all of this from the pentagon. Well, the u. S. Military is anticipating a white house order from President Trump as soon as this week directing the pentagon to cut u. S. Troop levels in afghanistan and iraq in the days leading up to the inauguration of president elect joe biden. Now, the troop level reductions in iraq will be relatively minor, cutting some 500 troops were told but the troop reductions in afghanistan will be much more significant going from 4,500 personnel there now to some 2,500 troops. This will likely hinder the u. S. Militarys ability to train local Afghan Forces to carry out Counter Terrorism missions against groups like al qaeda. Secretary of defense mark esper is sending a memo cosigned by multiple generals to President Trump warning him that the conditions were not right for reduction. President trump choosing to fire esper and proceed with the reductions despite the advice of military commanders. While this would affect the Counter Terrorism missions on the ground there, it will also potentially constrain the ability of president elect biden to set his policy for the region as the reductions are expected to take place just days or be completed just days before biden is expected to attend his inauguration. Back to you. Brian browne, thank you so much for that. As the president continues to deny he lost the election, Brad Raffensperger revealed monday that the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, senator Lindsey Graham pressured him to find ways to toss out legally cast absentee ballots to help reverse trumps loss in that state. Well, he asked if the ballots could be matched back to the voters, and then i got the sense implied that then you could throw those out. He really would look at the counties with the highest frequent error of signatures. So thats the impression that i got. Now, in response, senator graham calls raffenspergers claim ridiculous, telling cnn he just wanted to understand the process for verifying signatures on mailin ballots. Raffensperger has been vilified by fellow republicans for the his handling of the election in georgia, which by all accounts was handled properly and has been transparent. The secretary of state told the Washington Post the situation has escalated so badly that he and his wife have received Death Threats in recent days over this. The Pressure Cooker situation in georgia likely to only grow in the coming weeks as the special elections for both u. S. Senate seats are scheduled for early january. The outcome of which will decide the balance of power in the senate. Still ahead, the human toll from coronavirus could be exponentially worse than officials in a major country is letting on. A cnn exclusive ahead for you. Needles. Essential for sewing, but maybe not for people with certain inflammatory conditions. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz. The first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. Before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. Tell your doctor if youve had hepatitis b or c, have flulike symptoms, or are prone to infections. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. Taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. Tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. Needles. Fine for some. But for you, theres a pill that may provide symptom relief. Ask your doctor about the pill first prescribed for ra more than seven years ago. Xeljanz. An unjection™. 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The state is pulling what it says an emergency brake to slow the spread of the virus. Californians will live in a county under the tightest restrictions, restrictions that go into effect today. Many businesses will have to change their operations. Restaurants, fitness centers, houses of worship, will have to be outdoor only in 41 of the 58 counties in california including los angeles and san diego. It comes as the state is seeing a huge spike in cases up 50 from one week ago. Im athena jones in new york. 200 veterans have died of covid19 at a Kentucky Veterans Center of explosion of new cases in the state. Kentucky governor andy beshear says the facility has been following the guidelines since the beginning but because we kentuckians have failed to stop community spread, we cant keep it out of places like this. The governor went on to encourage people to wear masks so fewer seniors and fewer veterans die. Saying with all the sacrifice they made, wearing a mask for them seems like a very small sacrifice. Im christina in new york, a group of business and labor leaders met with president elect joe biden and Vice President elect Kamala Harris. They discussed how to get covid spread under control and how critical that is to a robust economic recovery. Now, retailer target ceo specifically wanted more guidance from the federal government on more covid regulations, and safety protocols. He also wanted to know more about the vaccines rollout. These are things Business Leaders have asked for from the Trump Administration but rarely got. Im Polo Sandoval in new york, a Weekend House Party being blamed for a temporary transition to Remote Learning at a middle and High School Campus outside of boston. The School Superintendent told parents an undetermined amount of students did not wear masks or stay socially distant while they attended a large indoor party on friday. 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