i m christine romans. laura, it was a year ago this week everything started to shut down. now we get a glimpse. a taste of freedom. what it will look like. i am laura jarrett. tuesday, march 9th. 5 a.m. in new york. we begin with good news this morning. some of you will finally be able to hug your grandkids again after a full year of coping with this pandemic, a major step forward in returning to something resembling normal life. new guidance from the cdc for people fully vaccinated against covid-19 giving the green light to many everyday activities and easing some restrictions and precautions. nearly 20% of americans have been at least partially vaccinated. almost 10% fully. but the cdc still recommends people avoid travel saying it risks creating a surge in infections. the airline industry pushing back saying highly filtered air and universal mask wearing makes claims a low risk environment. a cnn medical analyst agrees. so this is one of these examples where i think
for fully vaccinated programs. the cdc says it is safe to they say vaccinated grandparents can safely visit unvaccinated grandchildren. the cdc is still cautioning against travel, although that may change as more people get shots. that s all such welcome news, but experts warn coronavirus variants could still trigger another deadly surge especially as states relax guidelines. texas is set to end its statewide mask mandate tomorrow. a final vote in the house on president biden s $1.9 trillion relief bill is expected tomorrow morning. it will bring critical dollars to millions of struggling americans. the president will out the the measure when he delivers his first primetime address to the nation on thursday. so we begin with cnn s dan simon live in houston with the latest on the pandemic. good morning, dan. reporter: well, good morning, alisyn. that s right. beginning tomorrow that mask mandate will end here in texas. and businesses can open at full capacity, that as we f
announcer: this is new day with alisyn camerota and john berman. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this is new day. and this morning, there are positive signs for how the united states can navigating the pandemic. for the first time, more americans have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus than have been infected by it. it was exactly one year ago today that dr. sanjay gupta told us right here on new day that the u.s. was entering a new and very dangerous phase. cnn is now calling the outbreak a global pandemic. our senior medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta joins us to explain why. what makes it a pandemic, sanjay? there are criteria that are somewhat defined to call something a pandemic. let me preface by saying this terminology we re going to start using now isn t so much to cause panic but rather to really cause a focus on preparedness. can you believe how close we were sitting to each other. that was a s
outbreak a global pandemic. our senior medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta joins us to explain why. what makes it a pandemic? there are criteria that are somewhat defined to call something a pandemic. let me preface by saying this terminology that we re going to start using now isn t so much to cause panic but rather to really cause a focus on preparedness. sanjay will join us in a moment. more than 525,000 americans have died since sanjay made those remarks. but this morning there are so many positive signs. 2.2 million people a day are getting vaccinated. the cdc has new guidelines for 30 million people who are fully vaccinated. if you are one of them, the cdc says it is safe to gather with other vaccinated people indoors without masks. and vaccinated grandparents can safely visit unvaccinated grandchildren. but the experts say we re not out of the wood yet. coronavirus variants could still trigger another deadly surge, especially as states relax their guidelines.
folks, it s july 27th. welcome to groundhog day. the only movement is closer to the august 2nd deadline. less than six days the federal government could run out of money and default on its bills. next hour on capitol hill, the doom s day scenario is laid out. executives from credit rating agencies will warn lawmakers of the far-reaching impact of a u.s. downgrade. one debt plan, backed by house speaker john boehner, is yanked from a scheduled vote. the congressional budget office says its savings were overstated and the numbers need to be crunched again. and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says it s time to accept something less than perfect. joe johns and dan lothian, let s start with joe. how costly is today s delay on the boehner plan and does he even have the support to get it passed in his own house? reporter: kyra, these are both very good questions. on the one hand, he loses a day and there are only six days to go. so that is a big deal. the other thing is tha