Our president ial election. We cant let it happen again. [ cheers ] good morning to all of you wherever you might be waking up this morning. It looks like the suns trying to peek up there on the horizon in new york. 6 00 in the morning. And welcome to sunday. It is december 6th. Im christi paul. Were always great to have you and another person with us here, marty. Good morning. Great to be with you. Good to be with all of you at home. Im martin savidge. Lets talk about the fda meeting to discuss pfizers coronavirus vaccine, the first candidate for emergency use authorization. A piece of hopeful news to hold on to as nearly every day now sees some new coronavirus record being set. Cnn has more on the latest from new york. You know, its so easy to get numbed to all of these especially the numbers, but the numbers really are climbing. Hospitals are strained. And Health Officials have to make some tough choices. Reporter absolutely. Good morning, martin. This is another grim milestone in the pandemic. The u. S. On saturday saw the second highest number of people in the hospital with covid, and the rising number of coronavirus cases could wind up crippling Health Care Systems across the country. The latest wave of covid is taking a devastating toll in the u. S. With more than one Million People diagnosed with the virus in the last five days alone. Across the country, the number of people hospitalized topped 100,000 for a fourth straight day. I think that sometimes when you hear statistics like that, you become numb to what those numbers mean. But for us, you know, the people that are taking care of these patients, every single number is somebody that we have to look at and say im sorry, theres nothing more i can do for you. And its just another family we have to call to tell them that their loved ones are going to die. Reporter cases are rising across the country. At least four states reported record numbers of new cases on saturday. In california, some 33 Million People will be under some sort of mandated government lockdown by sunday night. Restrictions implemented as icu bed capacity dipped below the 15 threshold set by governor newsom. Those lockdowns expected to last at least three weeks. The trend lines were seeing now are really disastrous. Theyre just heading straight up in terms of the number of cases, the number of hospitalizations. So it really is time for us to pull back on the activity and see if we can turn this thing around before hospitals get overwhelmed. If they get overwhelmed, patients are going to get harmed and die because we will not have the ability to take care of them in the way we want. Reporter officials in colorado are warning of a dangerous december with one in 40 people already infected with the coronavirus. There before the vast majority of thanksgiving cases have even come in. And as the number of cases and deaths escalate, so does the pressure being put on the medical system and those working to save lives. Our hospitals are filling up, and our workers are getting sick. Our floors are short on techs, on respiratory therapists, on nurses, and we are on the verge of being in a crisis state. Reporter with holiday preparations already under way and expected to ramp up in the coming weeks, the centers for Disease Control and prevention had a simple plea saturday, urging people on twitter to just wear the mask. The cdc doesnt just say wear the mask it says it shouldnt just cover your mouth but mouth and nose. The cdc warn figure we dont do what we can to slow the spread of the virus that thousands more could die. Martin . Allison kosek, thank you so much. Thats where we begin this morning on covid. Now to politics, all eyes on jer georgia this weekend, the state that will determine the balance of power in the state come january. At a debate, Kelly Loeffler is facing off against her democratic opponent, Rafael Warnock. President trump aired his own grievances with the election and used the stage to push false allegations of Election Fraud. Several gop leaders are concerned now, they fear the president s reelectless attacks on the election relentless attacks on the election in georgia may lead to a number of Republican Voters staying home january 5th. I want to bring in cnns sarah westwood, following the latest from the white house. We know several conservatives, those ive talked to here in georgia, worry that the president will hurt republican chances in that race. What are you hearing . Reporter thats right. That was a fear that republicans had before the president s rally last night. And certainly his performance there is not likely to make them feel any better about the harm that the president could do to the gop prospects of retaining their senate majority. The president s speak last night was speech last night was littery with untrue things he was saying about the election and taking shots at georgia officials that Republican Voters will need to trust in order to spend their time getting out to vote on january 5th. And thats the fear that republicans had. The president spent the majority of the first part of his speech airing his grievances, as you mentioned, not spending a lot of time in the first part of the speech when most of the people were tuned in talking about the two senators that he was there to campaign for. Again, that was the fear of republicans. He took a lot of shots at governor brian kemp, the republican, former trump ally, who leads that state claiming that kemp was incompetent, that kemp hasnt done enough to pursue the president s false election claims. Kemp was not at the rally because he was dealing with the death of a young family friend. Perhaps highlighting the problem with the rhetoric, the president said that some people close to him have urged others not to votes in this upcoming special election. Friends of mine say, lets not vote. Were not going to vote because were angry. Theyre friends of mine. Reporter so that sort of hits the nail on the head of the inherent contra addition of what the president was trying to do convincing people that the election votes in georgia were fraudulent but also that they should trust the system enough to cast their ballots in january. Purdue and loeffler were invited to speak at one point, but at some points they were drowned out by people chanting about the election results. That is why republicans are very concerned about the message the president continues to push on the election. So there was an interesting development, sarah, just prior to that rally as we learned that the president called georgias governor, brian kemp, to push him to convince state legislators to overturn president elect joe bidens win. Then it turned to twitter. Reporter a Shocking Development in this feud between the president and brian kemp who the president has been openly criticizing. But cnn learned that last night yesterday before the president headed to that rally last night, the president called Governor Kemp and urged him to call a special session of the state legislature to try to overturn the results of that state which had already been certified after a hand recount. They really have been scrutinized. New the director of the states voting implementation system came out and said that there has been no evidence of widespread fraud in georgia. Despite the fact that we did all of our investigation the, yes, theres illegal looking in every election, but nothing like the wide claims of voter fraud by the president , his lawyers and former lawyers. Reporter sources said trump also pressed Governor Kemp to order an audit of absentee ballot signatures. Kemp came out on twitter and later said, i have already called for that three times, but i dont have the authority to do so. Really open warfare between the two former allies at this point. All right. Sarah westwood, we appreciate it so much. Thank you. And despite the president s efforts, joe biden is expected to be recertified as the winner tomorrow. Georgias secretary of state has also weighed in saying theyve seen, quote, no substantial changes in the results due to the recounts that theyve done. Cnns political reporter rebecca buck. What are you learning . Reporter deja vu all over again. Joe biden once again set to be certified as the winner in georgia after, as you said, no major significant differences found in this recount. That makes joe biden the first democrat to win in georgia since 1992 when bill clinton did it as a democratic president ial candidate three decades ago. That makes this pretty historic indeed. And driving his victory in georgia for joe biden were these disaffected suburban voters around the atlanta area who were just fed up with Donald Trumps presidency. Now the question with these voters moving forward is whether they will continue to support a joe biden presidency and his agenda, or whether they might turn back to the Republican Party post donald trump. And this is one of the key questions moving forward in the next month as we look at the Georgia Senate runoff. Two Georgia Senate runoffs, rather, between david purdue and Kelly Loeffler on the republican side, Rafael Warnock and jon osof on the republican side. This is going to be a key fight that determines the trajectory of his presidency once he takes that oath of office, determining the balance of power in the senate and the fate of his legislative agenda moving forward. The most period impact, of course immediate impact, of course, on bidens cabinet nominees and Senate Confirmed positions. Would a Republican Senate give its stamp of approval to some of the more controversial picks, or will he have an easier time with a Democratic Senate then moving ahead to the legislative agendas, you have questions about issues like health care, immigration, tax reform, that he talked about on the campaign trail, his priorities for him if hes president. But will republicans in a Republican Senate be motivated to work with joe biden politically, especially if donald trump is still on the political stage as he has indicated he might remain involved. So these are the key questions facing joe biden, looking at georgia, it remains now the center of the political universe. And you can guarantee he does know what is at stake. He plans to be in georgia campaigning on behalf of those democrats running for senate in the near future. Rebecca, its clear republicans are having a hard time accepting the win of joe biden. According to the Washington Post survey they did, only 27 Congressional Republicans acknowledge joe bidens victory. Thats a problem. Reporter yeah. Thats a really small fraction of the Republican Party, obviously, martin. Over on earth, too, many are maintaining that joe biden is not the president elect or this is a rigged election. Obviously baseless claims that weve heard from President Trump. In response to this list of just 27 republicans, thats like two dozen republicans, as you mentioned, who admit that joe biden is the president elect, President Trump tweeted this weekend that he would like to see a list of those what he called republicans in name only, rhin rhinos, who admit the reality. The Washington Post published the list of those republicans. Many, seven of them are outgoing republicans. One of them, denver riggleman, tweeted that he is on the list. He raised his hands on twitter confirming for the president that hes one of them. He is one of those outgoing republicans in congress. Not as much to lose politically. I think the republicans who didnt say anything in response to this question telling us a lot more about where the party is right now. Rebecca buck. Thank you very much. Lets go now to cnns kyung lah for a preview of that very Crucial Senate debate thats going to take place in georgia. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, marty. What we are not expecting to see today in that crucial debate that youre talking about, remember, what is in the balance here is control of the u. S. Senate. These two senate seats. Two republican incumbents defending those seats. Were not expecting to see one of those senators, senator david purdue. Hes already told the debate organizers that hes not going to show up. And its not that he cant come, its that he wont come. We saw the senator all day yesterday kicking off a bus tour across georgia. He met with numerous supporters. He stopped and spoke. He made several different stops, and it was a full day of campaigning, capped by the rally with the president in near the florida georgia border. And this is something that the senator has felt very comfortable doing, being in a safe space. He hasnt taken questions from reporters. And he certainly indicated that hes not going to show up for the debate with the democratic challenger, john s ossov. He will be at one podium and there will be an empty podium for purdue. Ossof has during his time on the campaign trail beaten up the senator, asking. Knows, where is david, thats been something hes said over and over again. Hes even put out an ad, has anyone seen david. Thats one of the races. The other race, the senator who was defending her seat, kelly lefler, she and her democratic challenger, Rafael Warnock, they have had quite an Ugly Campaign so far, slinging barbs at each other primarily through their ads. We are going to see them on one stage tonight. She is going to talk about defending the republican majority. Warnock talking more about the issues, predominantly health care has been something he has focused on. So it you know, seeing them on one stage, marty, seeing them go back and forth is something that a lot of people in the state have yet to see and are certainly anxious to see. Marty . Yeah. Thats going to be an interesting one. Kyung lah, always good to see you. Thank you for the wrap. And remember, its debate night in georgia. You can watch it all live right here on cnn at 7 00 eastern. New york city will begin reopening its schools tomorrow. But new Research Shows student performance has already been affected by the pandemic. Well have that next. Also, russia begins vaccinating for covid19. Were going to tell you about the controversial vaccine and how the rollout is going plus far. Research shows people remember commercials with nostalgia. So to help you remember that Liberty Mutual customizes your Home Insurance, heres one thatll really take you back. Its customized Home Insurance from Liberty Mutual only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Less sick days cold coming on . Zicam® is clinically proven to shorten colds highly recommend it zifans love zicams unique zinc formula. It shortens colds zicam zinc that cold i want pizza. I want tacos. Pizza. Tacos. Pizza what about subway . 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The deep divides among students that occurred in spring Remote Learning may not have been solved. Numbers on the ground are showing dramatic dropts in attendance, academic participation, and grade performance among students of color attending Public Schools. What was bad before the pandemic for students with fewer advantages is getting worse. Sad reality is as a country we give least to the students who need the most. Before the pandemic it was already true that lowincome students and students of color were less likely to be in quality Early Childhood education. They were less likely to be in schools with strong, wellprepared teachers. We had all these gaps before. We had significant achievement gaps before, 20, 30, 40point gaps in reading and math, gaps in College Access and college completion. So those were all challenges before, covid has exacerbated those challenges. Those challenges