live from cnn headquarters, live for those watching here in canada, united states and around the world, i m kim brunhuber. this is cnn newsroom. we begin with an encouraging sign of progress in the u.s. vaccination campaign against the coronavirus. half of all americans are now fully vaccinated, according to data released friday, despite that, the number of new cases keeps growing. now topping 100,000 per day. and in florida, the delta variant is spreading at unprecedented speed. we re talking about 20,000 new cases per day on average. florida had more than 134,000 new cases total over the past week. the highest number since the pandemic began. but the white house is making it clear, the nation isn t headed for another lockdown. nick valencia has the latest on vaccination efforts across the country. reporter: a major milestone for the country, with half the total u.s. population fully vaccinated. but the grim count of covid deaths is rising fast. a 52% increase over l
ought to be a robust bipartisan process. the senate is working through the weekend again and working closer to passing the sweeping infrastructure bill. house stands adjourned. texas democrats win a momentary victory, blocking passage of a restrictive new gop-led voting bill. this is a victory for texas voters, but we understand the fight continues. how republicans are planning to keep up the pressure on democrats and get the bills passed. i just don t know if we re going to have enough water to get to the end. extreme drought is plaguing the west, and it is leading to water restrictions. and hardships for farmers. the olympic spirit on full display at the tokyo games. newsroom starts now. good morning to you on this saturday, august 7th. i m christi paul. hey, boris. i m boris sanchez. you are live in the cnn newsroom, and we re grateful to have you. we start with some numbers that are deflating. the u.s. averaging more than 107,000 new covid-19 cases a
those words as the cdc warns america s future right now rests on the unvaccinated. what they decide today will sti everyone s tomorrow. officials say if vaccinating rates don t go the crisis can only get worse, possibly a lot worse. hundreds of thousands of new cases daily and that will mean many more avoidable hospitalizations, more avoidable deaths, and new variants. now hospitals are already at breaking points. children s hospitals seeing spikes in cases, yet right now, more than 90 million eligible americans have not been vaccinated. 90 million. and the solution to protect them and all of us is available and waiting. as for the vaccinated, there is news today on boosters. we ll get to all of that. let s begin with cnn s phil mattingly at the white house for us. we are reporting today the white house is considering a plan to withhold funding. the president didn t outright say it this morning, but he did hint more action is coming. no question about it. i think this is
and we are going to challenge it vigorously. it s no longer just about who gets to vote, or make it easier for eligible voters to vote, it s about who gets to count the vote. who gets to count whether or not your vote counted at all. we are facing the most significant test of our democracy since the silver war. the confederates then never breeched the capitol as insurrectionists did on january 6th. i m not saying this to alarm you. i m saying this because you should be alarmed. president also made his most direct attack yet on the conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was somehow rife with fraud. in 2020, democracy was put to a test. first by the pandemic, then by a desperate attempt to deny the reality and the results of the election, with recount after recount after recount, court case after court case, the 2020 election was the most scrutinized election in american history. in either case, neither cause nor evidence was found to under mine the historic election. the
to a test. first by the pandemic, then by a desperate attempt to deny the reality and the results of the election. with recount after recount after recount, court case after court case, the 2020 election was the most scrutinized election ever in american history. in every case neither cause nor evidence was found to undermine the national achievement in administrate. the big lie is just that, a big lie. and america, if you lose, you accept the results, you follow the constitution, you try again. you don t call facts fake and then try to bring down the american experiment just because you re unhappy. it s not statesmanship. that s selfishness. the president s been under pressure from members under his own party to make a speech like this, but his rhetoric cannot overcome the reality that two democratic bills meant to expand the voting rights currently have no pass to get to his desk. and today s address gave no mention calling for an end to the filibuster, the rule calling f