Told the president , no dice on this one. The u. S. Has started 2021 with some disturbing pandemic figures. They have surpassed the 20 million mark of coronavirus cases. The new, fasterspreading coronavirus variant now detected in colorado, california, maybe florida. L. A. County Officials Say hospitals are, quote, on the brink of catastrophe. Its like treading water from 100 feet below the surface. Youre already drowning but you have to keep trying because thats what you can do. We want to wish you a good morning on this saturday, january 2nd, 2021. Im going to say it again, 2021 because it just feels good, john avlon. It does feel good to say that. We are in a new year and i am in today for Victor Blackwell whos enjoying a day off. This new year brings new reminders though of what the u. S. Has yet to overcome in the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 348,000 people have died due to covid19 in this country. And the u. S. Just topped 20 million cases yesterday with more than 125,000 people starting 2021 in the hospital fighting for their lives. The big concern now is that a more easily transmitted variant of covid19 first seen in the u. K. , the strain has now been detected in california, colorado, florida. President trump is focusing on lashing out with 18 days left in office. A federal judge yesterday threw out the doomed effort by one of his allies to interfere in the Electoral College count. The senate came together in a big bipartisan way and hit him with the first veto override of his presidency. Thats right. A lot to get to this morning. Lets begin with the pandemic. Cnns Palo Sandoval join us. We have a lot of pandemic uncertainty. Reporter and a lot of hospitalizations as well, john. Looking at about 125,000 people still in the hospital right now fighting covid. Of course, those numbers continue to climb. Then you also consider that prominent ihme model predicting 110,000 people could lose their lives due to covid in the next four weeks alone. Friday brought a new year, and with it another tragic milestone in the covid19 pandemic with the u. S. Surpassing 20 million total confirmed infections. Its a reminder the virus will keep ravaging parts of the country until ongoing vaccine efforts help to slow or stop the spread. There lies the challenge. Health officials in several states report difficulties in planning a vaccine rollout with no federal mandate in place dictating how to administer the vaccine. The result has been a flawed distribution leaving distribution figures far below the trump administrations goal. Mitt romney, a republican critic of the president , called that inexcusable. Texas reports the state has distributed 1 3 of the vaccine its received as of friday and some hospitals are trying to overcome the logistical challenges of administering the shot says rob davidson. Theyre trying to get as many Front Line Health Care workers vaj svaccinated as possible. Now reaching out to clinics outside of the hospital to get those folks vaccinated and working with local Health Departments on the next level for people over 75. Reporter data from the cdc shows new york is over performing on the vaccination front. Friday figures show 32 of new yorks allotted vaccine doses have been given. That is well above the National Average of 23 shots administered. The real crisis point remains out west in california which set a new daily record for covid19 deaths on friday. As one state official warned that californias on the brink of catastrophe. This new years eve crowd gathered in la county protesting masks and religious gatherings. Its so disheartening to see those over privileged having parties while others are struggling. I want to take a moment to thank the average americans who have sacrificed their family time and their jobs by doing the right thing day in and day out, by Wearing Masks and distancing. Dr. George rodriguez tells cnn some medical facilities are using Hospital Gift shops and chapless to care for their patients. Health officials will be reporting. Its still the same virus. Its not different in that, its just a new lineage here may be transmitting a little faster. Reporter new variant spreads the same way, social distancing and masks offer the best protection. You should include florida on states that appear to be over performing in terms of administering vaccines, at least when you compare it to where other states are. Other states are not where we want to be. There is that call by many states, john and christi, to have a federal mandate when it comes to montpelier gets that vaccine and where. The hope is that those numbers would begin to increase in terms of the vaccinations and then, of course, infections and hospitalizations potentially decrease with that. We certainly hope for all of that. Absolutely. Two tough losses for the president. A federal judge tossing a lawsuit attempting to overthrow the results of the election while the senate voted to override President Trumps veto of the Defense Authorization act. Cnns Sarah Westwood is at the white house this morning. Happy new year. Congressman louis gomert and several arizona republicans trying to force Vice President pence to choose donald trump as the president. Have we gotten any reaction from Vice President pence . Reporter good morning, guys. The judge in the Eastern District of texas threw out the case saying they did not have standing to bring this lawsuit, which as you mentioned focused on the Vice President s role in certifying the results of the Electoral College. We had not heard from pence in the days after this lawsuit was first filed. Pence has been keeping a relatively low profile as President Trump continues to challenge the results of the election. But he did respond in a filing asking the court to reject the case saying acknowledging that it is not within his power to throw out the Electoral College results, that hes simply there to certify them as a formality when he does so on january 6th. The department of justice had given the white house a heads up that they were about to weigh in and recommend that the case be tossed. We know President Trump has been furious at what he perceives as the justice departments inaction on his baseless claims of voter fraud. And this was not the only blow that was dealt to the president this week. Another one came in the form of congress issuing its first veto override of his presidency when they voted to reject the defense spending bill, trump had vetoed it because republicans and democrats had resisted his efforts to have broad sided big tech. They said it wasnt related and they said it was too big of a bill to play politics with. President trump wrote a Republican Senate just missed the opportunity to get rid of section 230 which gives Unlimited Power to big tech companies. Pathetic. Now they want to give people ravaged by the china virus 600 rather than 2,000 which they so desperately need. Not fair or smart. They have been resisting the president s efforts to raise the amount in individual relief checks to 2,000. The president has not been having much luck in fortsing the president to do the bidding in the waning days of his presidency. He certainly hasnt. The president seems to be going after senate gop folks who have been his allies on 99 of his agenda, like senator john thune, railing against georgia governor kemp. What is behind all of this . And give us the latest state of play. Reporter john, theres clear frustration from President Trump that more republicans have not been leaning in to his efforts to undermine the Election Results. Senator john thune is a great example of someone who has felt the wrath of the president after defending the idea of democracy and saying that the Electoral College results should stand in the senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has discouraged senators from challenging those Election Results, but senator josh hawley has come out and leading the charge in the senate saying he will object to the Election Results on wednesday forcing the house and the senate to take a vote on those Election Results. Dozens and dozens of other House Republicans have joined that effort which is sure to fail but will be a symbolic show to trump and his supporters that they are joining his push to fight the elections. Christi andon. Sarah westwood at the white house. Thank you very much. Sarah said this wednesday congress is expected to vote to certify joe bidens victory in the 2020 election. Isnt coming without its own challenges. Cnns Phil Mattingly has more of that. Reporter as the 116th Congress Comes to an end, well, the president with a pretty sharp rebuke from both republicans and democrats. Now that doesnt mean the relations with congress are officially over. In fact, republicans, more than 140 in the house, at least one in the United States senate, perhaps more, are lining up behind the president this time around when it comes to trying to overthrow or overturn the u. S. Election. Lets make something very, very clear here. On january 6th when a joint session of congress convenes to count the electors, joe biden will be confirmed to be the next president of the United States of america. How long it takes to get to that point . Well, thats where the current dynamics are officially throwing things into question. The republicans when paired with a senator if they raise an objection, that would require both chambers to recess, have a debate of two hours and have a vote on those objections. That vote will fail however many times it occurs and it happens, it will fail. Democrats control the house. Democrats have a decent size majority in the senate and they are acknowledging it. Tangibly all of the objections mean is its going to be a very long day. Politically its become a big, big issue inside the republican party. Mitch mcconnell made very clear this was not a pathway he wanted republicans to go down. Think of the dynamics. You either vote for reality, that joe biden is the next president of the United States, or you vote for President Trump . Well, thats against reality and obviously there are political implications there and incentives, incentives that republicans who dont want this fight certainly didnt want to have to vote on and yet it looks like thats exactly whats going to happen. Just another page in the final weeks for President Trump. What it means for the party, what it means for the president himself, what it means for the senators and congressmen that will still be in office when he leaves, theyll be trying to figure everything out. The bottom line is joe biden will be inaugurated president of the United States on january 20th. What happens to President Trump and the party he currently ov oversees, that remains a question. Phil mattingly, cnn, washington. Joining me to discuss is olivia knudsy. Its good to see you. Good morning. With trump railing against reality attacking gop allies, it brings to mind the surreal days of the nixon administration. You have been able to get in the room and talk to folks about this administration. What are they saying about the president s temper and state of mind . Reporter people have been talking about the president s mood for as long as he has been a Political Force and his mood is often not great. Hes often fuming is the word that people tend to use when they describe him, but since election night, basically since arizona was called by fox news people around the president , people who work in the administration have told me that they have been outright avoiding him sometimes. They dont want to be around him. Its no longer worth it. Whatever the personal benefits of enduring verbal abuse or having an argument with the president before, they no longer exist because he is being further and further removed from power and i imagine that even when it comes to lawmakers who right now are gesturing towards his supporters, trying to appease him, people like josh hawley that as the president moves further and further away from his influence, that they will stop doing things like that and they will move into the future and stop trying to appeal to a base that he can no longer excite with a tweet and get to do his bidding for him. Nonetheless, despite this lame duck status, cnn is reporting as much as 140 House Republicans could sign on to this assault democracy amendment attempt to overturn the Electoral College counting which will not succeed. It is both sure to fail and completely hostile to the democratic traditions. Why are they showing this to a lame duck if hes seen as impotent politically . I dont think theres any down side. If you are a republican lawmaker from a certain type of district or state, i dont think theres any down side in your mind right now in doing that. At best, you appease the president and avoid in the final days him turning his focus on you or making you look bad in front of people in your district who support him. At worse, what . If the architects could come on tv and be treated politely in our society now, i think people think not unfairly that theyre not going to be held accountable long term and people wont care about what they did six months from now or even remember 12 months from now. So i think its a very cynical calculation but thats nothing new in washington. No, it certainly isnt but thats stunning. They think its short term easier to assault the democratic traditions and that the American People will have a memory of a firefly. One person not in that position of a luxury is mike pence. Heres somebody who has done everything he could to support the president uncritically, his own ambitions going forward. That relationship must be at a straining, if not a breaking point. Reporter we have seen this, mike pence put in a damaging position and managing to get by without having to say anything that harms his relationship with the president , without having to do anything that harms his relationship with the president. Obviously thats a bit different this week. I dont think were going to see an outright feud between the Vice President and the president in the time days of the administration. It would go against everything that we know to be true about mike pences personality and kind of his anticonflict way of existing in this administration for that to happen. But, you know, apparently the president doesnt understand why he cant just refuse to certify the election. Reporter right. The rules of how this all work seem to be news to the president. He has no interest in legislating. Hes never had any interest in government, but we are still getting reports. The fact that in the final weeks of this administration were still getting reports about him learning for the first time how washington works, how the administration works, it is pretty stunning even if its not surprising at this point. I want to end on one thing. You were quoted about journalism in the post trump era. You have ridden this craziest train from the early days, daily beast through new York Magazine did you have anything to do with that . A little bit. I still remember your reaction to covering someone with a twitter handle realdonaldtrump. How do journalist cover governing with the same way that the scandals have obsessed us. Journalists are biased towards conflict. I think there will always be a focus on various conflicts and various drama sz, but obviously the biggest drama queen of all is leaving washington and that will change things a bit. I think that hopefully my hope is that there will be kind of a return to creativity and a return to people being able to Pay Attention to things that are not just so obvious. Everything with trump, it sucks up all the oxygen. Its in your face. It doesnt take any particular skill to point out from my perspective as a writer to point out the absurdity of it all. I think there will be a bit of a return to maybe boredom on the part of the press corps and maybe thats a good thing. Without having to report on someones mood every day will lead to more substantive journalism. Covering governing. People trying to solve problems. Olivia, thank you very much and happy new year. Happy new year. So we are in day two of 2021, and the u. S. Is short of where the government had hoped vaccinations would be by this time last year. Whats going wrong . What needs to happen to fix this . Talking to an expert on Vaccination Programs with those questions and more. Coming up, a story thats being repeated across the country, the uncertainty facing millions of unemployed americans. I get so emotional because im overwhelmed and im like, i dont know how to live anymore. Dr. Fauci said the u. S. Will not delay the second dose in order to administer more initial shots. Paul han n Claire Hannon is with us. Thanks for having me. Of course. I want to get to this. Just about 2 million vaccines have been administered out of 10 million, 10 to 12 million. Right. In fact, 20 of the shots that have been given in the last couple of weeks. What needs to happen to expedite the process . Well, i dont think its caution for alarm at this point. I think there are a number of contributing factors. States are setting aside doses into the longterm care facility program. A little over 2 million doses there, and thats just getting off the ground. It will really hit the ground running next week. Theres also the holidays. Vaccine gets shipped out monday, tuesday, wednesday and then we had backtoback weeks where thursday and friday were holidays so it will be really good to see what happens next week. Weve got the allocation system really going strongly now. Its week to week, steady and consistent. It looks like hospitals are moving at a more deliberate pace than we thought so theyre staggering their employees. Theyre not vaccinating everybody overnight. They dont want to have reactions or sick days back to back to back. So theyre stretched thin as it is. So theyre taking a more deliberate pace. We need to look at that and we need to see how we can help them. Just really see whats going on in a normal week. Next week is really the first week that well have consistent allocation orders, shipments, and administration all throughout all five days. So senator mitt romney has called the rollout of this federal Vaccination Program incomprehensible, inexcusable. What do you call it . I certainly dont call it that. I mean, i think weve done a lot of groundwork to get this going. Weve enrolled tens of thousands of private providers, and right now the shipping is going very well. Its getting to private providers in 24 hours. The orders are going well. The data system is going well. We do have a little bit of a lag in the doses administered so thats coming through a few days after theyre delivered. I dont see it as a major system failure. In this country we have a private Sector Health care system. So to give a government supplied vaccine through the private sector, it takes a lot of coordination. All of that coordination has been done. Its working properly. You know, we just arent seeing the vaccine going into arms as quickly, but the infrastructure weve set up i think is working. Let me ask you about this because i believe the cdc guidelines, correct me if im wrong, are getting this vaccine to people who are 75 years or older. There are some states that want to allow people who are 65 years old to sign up for the vaccinations. Is it too soon to make a modification like that . Well, i think you will see some variation across states. Part of that is we dont want vaccines sitting on the shelves. If we arent getting it into the arms of Health Care Workers as quickly as we can, youll see some states expanding so that they can at the same time theyre getting Health Care Workers, they can also offer it to other populations. The cdc has recommended those over 75, but that recommendation came, you know, just a week or two ago and so many states were already setting up infrastructure for over 65 and so, you know, i think you will see that. Youll see some variation. The important thing is that the vaccine is getting out and its getting into arms. Everybodys got to get the vaccine or be offered it. We want to do what is getting the vaccine into the arms. Real quickly, the variant thats showed up in the u. K. That is showing up in three states, colorado, california, florida. Dr. Fauci says the current vaccine will work against the new variant. Do you agree with that . How concerned are you about any new variants down the road . I take the lead from dr. Fauci on that. I think that theyre working with the other can you be tris looking at data from the vaccine and certainly if theyre looking at that and theyre seeing that there will be protection, i would definitely listen to dr. Fauci there and our other experts. Claire hannan, appreciate the work you do. Thank you for being with us. Thank you so much. Sure. Happy new year. You, too. All right. More than 3 million early vote and absentee ballots have already been cast in the Georgia Senate runoffs. Why some republicans are starting to worry. Thats next. E days you need more than an education. So thats what we give you. Introducing Career Services for life. Learn more at phoenix. Edu but taking prescriptions shouldnt be one of them. So cvs has a proprietary search tool that looks for savings. Plus free delivery. Get a free prescription savings review at cvs. Its moving day. And are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. It only takes about a minute. Wait, a minute . But what have you been doing for the last two hours . Delegating . Oh, good one. Move your Xfinity Services without breaking a sweat. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Xfinity makes moving easy. Go online to transfer your services in about a minute. Get started today. Only three days to go until the crucial Georgia Senate runoffs, and republicans are facing increased pressure to turn out their base on election day, january 5th. Both President Trump and president elect biden are both scheduled to hit the Georgia Campaign trail on monday. In a lastminute attempt to sway voters. The outcome of the election will have major implications for the incoming biden administration. Cnns ryan nobles is with us from atlanta. Ryan, obviously were in the final stretch for the two races. Millions of people have cast their votes. What are the candidates doing to try to keep up the momentum . Reporter christi, first, i have to say, you live in atlanta. I cant imagine being a george began. You were a swing state to begin for the november election and here we are into 2021 and youre still being hammered with political ads. Its a lot. Reporter they spent half a billion. Its got to be so much. So many people in georgia that just want this thing to be over with. We are finally near the finish line, but what these candidates are doing is they are out on the trail this weekend. Election day is going to be very crucial, particularly for republicans. You mention that 3 Million People have already cast their votes in the early voting stage, predominantly democrats. Theyve won the early voting stage of this and now its going to be incumbent on republicans to make up that gap on election day. They believe they can do that. Republican voters are traditionally more likely to vote on election day and in person. There have been a few wrinkles here. The Democratic Candidates have been facing negative ads, particularly reverend Raphael Warnock. He has been under a lot of different attacks on television advertising. Senator david perdue, he was exposed to coronavirus so thats forced him to quarantine here in the closing days of the campaign. Listen to how both of these candidates talked about these challenges that theyre facing here in the closing hours of this campaign. My wife and i are doing just fine. We tested negative, but weve been testing our team regularly here according to cdc guidelines and recommendations. We with an abundance of caution have decided to go into quarantine. Its terrible timing but were not going to miss a step. We are going to participate in all events just as if i was there. Well, theres no question that senator Kelly Loeffler is running the most negative campaign in georgia history. She was appointed the peop, thef georgia are disappointed. She has no case to make why she should be elected, which is why shes busy attacking me. Reporter you dont have to look any further than the people that will be here in the state of georgia in the next couple of days to understand how important this is. The Vice President elect Kamala Harris will be in savannah tomorrow. The current Vice President mike pence will be at a mega church an hour outside atlanta on monday and the president elect on monday and President Trump himself will be here monday night. Both republicans and democrats understand the stakes in this race. If republicans are able to win just one of these seats, they will be able to hold onto the majority in the United States senate. Most observers here on the ground believe this will be a package deal. Either both democrats will win or both republicans will win. Well have to see how it all plays out on tuesday. John and christi. The stakes do not get higher than that. Ryan nobles on the campaign trail in georgia. Thank you. Just as he did before the general election, georgia voters are setting records. The turnout, the effort, the money put into getting voters to the polls reflect whats at stake here. Lets talk about how the race is shaking out. Gigi pedradza and cliff wright. Thank you both for being with us. Gigi, i wanted to ask you. I know the National RepublicanSenatorial Committee had one of the first ads on behalf of Kelly Loeffler at the end of november on spanish tv. They focused on retaining the senate. What do you know about how prevalent ads have been in the spanish tv and radio realm and how effective they are . Thank you so much for having me. So what we know is that candidates have only now started reaching out in language with relevant messaging to our community. Only five years ago they had for the first time an ad in spanish. For us its a welcome development. Candidates, parties, groups, Everybody Needs to Pay Attention to all constituents, invest and build the infrastructure appropriately. The more investment in our community in language and what they mean to real life, its important. And in terms of, cliff, you know, the black voters here in georgia, we know that theyve showed up early. Is there is there a big push to get them to the polls november 5th . I mean, how effective might that be . So many of them might say, weve already voted, we know people who have voted, were good . Yeah, no, thats not honestly, thats not a concern of ours. Were seeing, like you said, record turnout. We know theres close to 1 million black voters already just in the early vote. We know thats very close to the pace during the general election. What we also know perhaps more importantly is that black voters now consist of about 33 of the electorate. Not only does that exceed our percentage of the general population but it exceeds the electorate. We are outpacing our general election share of the ee lek tofr rate. Theres a lot of energy thats spilled over into the runoff despite what people are telling us we cant do. Its a runoff election, its in january, its cold, its the holiday season. In spite of all of that, weve been seeing incredible energy, momentum and turnout. We expect that will continue on election day. Ive been saying it for more than a month and some journalists have not taken me seriously. I believe we have the potential to exceed our turnout, black turnout that is, to exceed our turnout. Wed be close for that but we had two days lost to early voting because of the holidays. I want to stick with you for a minute beings cliff, because there was an article in the Washington Post this morning, and they were talking about black votes. And i wanted to ask your opinion on this. They said we are probably witnessing a political realignment in which Democrat Particulars are losing support from hispanics and losing black voters. Is there any indication thats the case in georgia . No, im not seeing that as an indication at all. We know there were some in roads made but at the end of the day black men continue to be the second most progressive block within this country, second only to black women, right . So we know that both black men and black women are going to show up, vote for our issues that are on the ballot, issues like the police violence, george floyd act, covid relief whether were going to see real stimulus checks and dealing with the Health Consequences of the pandemic. These are issues weve been talking to people about and they care passionately about. The only realignment taking place in this state and we say across the south is that folks are seeing that you can have a different strategy, that you can have a strategy which says lets expand our base, lets go deeper into our base, lets talk more to the people that we know fundamentally agree with us but lets invest more in reaching out to them, doors, radio, streech outreach, whatever it takes. Thats the realignment. Its clear now that black voters combined with our dear friends, brown voters, asianamerican voters, progressive voters, that strategy is the Winning Strategy in the state of georgia just like it was in arizona. We believe thats the strategy thats going to transform the south. Thats the transition thats taking place in georgia. Ive never seen what i have seen in the last couple of months on the ground in terms of from both parties trying to encourage people to come out. Gigi, real quickly to you. Jose parra said republican socialism message isnt going to work in georgia the way it did, say, in florida. Heres what he said. Its not florida, its mostly mexican immigrants that dont have the same history with socialism as cubans, anything car wag juans. They need to turn latino voters out out. I agree. 48 of latino voters did not participate in 2016 and that are emboldened. There is a young and vibrant electorate that have lived in their body and souls not to have political power because they were immigrants like me, unable to naturalize for reasons and vote. For us, were not onedimensional people. We are diverse community. Florida, we are different in cities and counties, in states in issues, in backgrounds, in class, in race, in religious affiliation. I am not worried about that. You know, to me the story is about turnout and its about relevant investment and messaging. For parties and groups to care every year. Every year, gigi, cliff, we appreciate your voiceness this conversation. Thank you so much. Thank you. Well be right back. Martin. An air force veteran made of doing whats right, not whats easy. So when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. Thats how you do it right. Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa were made for. Always have been. Er. And always will be. Never letting anything get in my way. Not the doubts, distractions, or voice in my head. And certainly not arthritis. Voltaren provides powerful arthritis pain relief to help me keep moving. And it can help you too. Feel the joy of movement with voltaren. This has been such a tough year. Millions of people have filed for ongoing jobless benefits because unemployment is well above historic levels right now. Thats right. The wait is on for families to receive benefits after the new federal aid package was finally signed last week. So vanessa met with one family who says right now its simply a question of staying alive. Reporter this family are raising a family of six on less than 400 a week in unemployment. Next week they could go without that money. It is going to hit rock bottom. Right now were able to eat. Forget the rent. That money that was supposed to arrive this week was just to feed your family . Just to feed the family. Reporter pandemic unemployment programs lapsed on december 26th, a day before a new federal aid package was signed. That delay means most americans will have to wait for states to issue their checks. Like im very grateful that money will be coming in, but sometimes it takes so long for the money to actually kick in. Reporter they are both gig workers. She drove a school carpool, he an uber. The loss of income put the family on to a growing pile of bills. If i told you all the bills are up to date . No, they cant be. Its just impossible. Reporter nearly 12 million renters will owe 5800 in back rent by january. They owe nearly that much and theyre 8,000 in credit card debt. You have to take the letters and you have to put it on the flowers. Reporter their small apartment is a virtual classroom and the four kids eat all meals at home. Thats 16 a day. You can do it. Come on, mommy got to go make breakfast. I get so emotional because im overwhemd. I dont know how to live anymore. Sometimes its so hard. A recent survey shows 27 million americans say they dont have enough to eat. This family relies on food stamps and the food pantry at the Brooklyn Community service copo. Its familiar for fariha. Get raspberries, squash. I got these special cucumbers. She used to work here handing out the food. I was there helping people receive benefits and now im on the other end, and im asking for benefits. Reporter and the need for Many Americans is only getting greater. Theyre running out of their checks. Thats why theyre coming, worried, hardship. Theyre not sure how theyre going to make ends meet. Reporter the new stimulus bill adds an extra 300 a week in unemployment until mid march. A much needed boost. I already know where im going to spend all of that money. Its hard to get back to that place where everything will be okay. I made it special just for you. Reporter vanessa jurkevich, cnn, brooklyn, new york. Listen, there is a mental and emotional toll that covid has left with us thats really heavy. I spoke with pastor Juanita Rasmus about what she calls the crash in her life and what we can all learn about what covid19 has left us with. Cnn, brooklyn, new york. Let me ask you a question. How much pressure do you put on yourself to be perfect . I have been living out this narrative of be a good girl, work hard, perform well, make yourself valued and valuable by how much you can do, how much you can produce, and so that narrative drove me basically to this place of deep depression. Thats pastor Juanita Rasmus, shes been a spiritual director to members of beyonces family, shes a cancer survivor and author of learning to be, finding your center after the bottom falls out. She talked to me about what i call the reset. Covid19 is inviting us to check out our core values and to see how far weve sailed away from them. That is the reset, trying to figure out what our priorities really are here. Shes resurrected a 13 ed century practice that we can all today, called the examine. At the end of the night the examine invites you to sit at the edge of the bed or in a chair and to just take a few moments and invite the knowing within you, invite spirit to help you review your day, look for what gave you life. You look for the ways that you were able to stay open, to receive love and to give love. You look for what made you smile. You look for the things that maybe you didnt see because of the busyness of the day. But then also you take a look at those things that werent life giving. The place where a conversation really sucked the life out of you. You just stay attentive to those places that seem to have left you constricted in some way, left you disappointed or rejected or sad. Most of us get so busy that we dont notice what were noticing. We dont notice the ways that our life is speaking to us. And so when you notice those things, even though they might look bad, right, whatever it is, notice it and give thanks for the awareness of being able to see it. Now heres the key. You do it with gratitude because it will change the way you sleep at night and it will change the way you wake up the next morning. Heres the key to the next morning. Do more of what gave you life yesterday, and do less of what took life from you yesterday. What is it that you want to say, speaks to how you showed up in the world, how youve learned to be in the world. Theres so many things that we just cant control. And i want to know how you have adapted, how you have changed since the coronavirus and quarantine. Your approach to life, your priorities. You can find me on twitter, instagram and facebook because thank you so much. I get such good energy and hope reading your stories, so thank you. Such an Important Message and such an important way to structure reflection, to moving forward, that attitude of gratitude. Shes amazing. Thank you for being here, john. Well, my great pleasure. Well see you again one hour from now. Before we go, christi, i have a special message we want to share with you. Good morning, and happy saturday to you. Im at home wrapping up the holiday vacation, but i had to send this message in to wish christi a very happy, belated birthday. Yes, her birthday was yesterday, but i wanted to send this message in to publicly wish my tv wife of, i believe, our seventh anniversary is coming up in a couple of days. My friend, my confidant, a very happy birthday. I know you enjoyed yesterday. Enjoy today and ill be back with everyone next weekend. I love that man. Oh, victor got me he got me happy birthday. Thank you, v. Thank you so much. And thank you, john. Youre not off the hook, as you know. Were back in an hour. See you then. Hes a kindred spirit. Jimmy and i basically come from the same spot. We went to the white house and we were welcomed in. His love for music makes sense to me because music is the voice of the heart. That was the music of change and dissidence. There was a risk politically and it didnt matter to him. I think music is the best proof that people have one thing in common, no matter where they live, no matter what language they speak. Jimmy carter, rock n roll president , tomorrow at 9 00 on cnn. Sanctuary music kids laughing upbeat tempo sanctuary music its the final days of the wish list sales event sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first months payment. To syour body needs routine. System, centrum helps your immune defenses every day, with vitamin c, d and zinc. Season, after season. Ace your immune support, with centrum. Lelets get fast, accuratell range oresults. Ions. Introducing letsgetchecked Health Testing you do at home. Know your health. Know yourself. Order now at letsgetchecked dot com this time the fireworks are coming after new years. Im Michael Smerconish in philadelphia. 2021 is about to begin with a bang. The next few days will be the political equivalent of the college bowl season. Tuesday will determine control of the u. S. Senate and wednesday well witness a lastditch effort by the president s congressional supporters to keep donald trump in power. Twin tests of american democracy amidst a covidweary nation, hoping that vaccinations are soon widespread. In georgia, over 3 million voted early, a record for a statewide runoff. Democrats jon ossoff and Raphael Warnock appear to have banked an advantage, leaving david perdue and Kelly Loeffler reliant on an election day effort to overtake that lead. Sound familiar . At stake is no less than control of the entire u. S. Senate and the corresponding ability of president elect biden to deliver on campaign promises. More than 800 million has been spent and polling suggests a cliffhanger. Then come wednesday, well all get to watch congressional sausage being made. That was guaranteed by the decision of missouri senator josh hawley to objec