thousands of new hospital beds. that's what was going on. that's why the cdc and that's why cms made those decisions, and at the time cdc, cms, they were white house task forces. the they were daily briefings. everyone was focused on this issue. this was not a little issue. the all the best minds were looking at it. fact. of the 613 nursing homes, we have 613 nursing homes in the state, 365 received a person from a hospital. of the 365 that received a person from this march 25th guidance which was then superceded in may, 98% of those 365 already had covid in their facility. covid did not get into the nursing homes by people coming from hospitals. the covid got into the nursing homes by staff walking into the nursing home when we didn't even know we had covid. staff walking into a nursing home even though they were asymptomatic because the national experts all told us you could only spread covid if you had symptoms and they were wrong. covid may have been brought into a nursing home because visitors brought it in and didn't know they were contagious because the guidance was you can only be contagious if you have symptoms, if you're sneeding, if you're coughing. that turned out to be wrong. that's how covid got into the nursing homes. 98% of the people who took a person back from a hospital who was probably no longer contagious already had it in the facility and they signed and agreed that they could handle it because they already had people who were covid in the nursing home. if you look at the rate of death before the march 25th order and after the order was rescinded. the rate of death is the same. by the way, if you look at the rate of death in the nursing homes, in the spring overall and in the second surge, the winter/fall surge, the rate of death is the same. these decisions are not political decisions. they are all made the best information the medical professionals had at the time and in new york we talked to the best experts on the globe, and i've said to the people in the state many times nobody has been here before. nobody knows for sure. covid is new. they are all giving you their best advice at the time, and these are really quality people. dr. osterholm, dr. fauci, all the main institute that were giving advice to the nation, we had people come from the world health organization who dealt with china who came to albany, literally to advise us. we're blessed to have dr. howard zucker as our health commissioner. he's trained at harvard, upenn, johns hopkins and served at hhs, w.h.o., nih and teaches at columbia and yale university. the if we had to pay him what he was worth, we couldn't afford it, and he gave his best advice on the information that he had at the time. the i would trust dr. zucker with my mother's care. that's why i trust him with your mother's care. i wouldn't have anyone as the health commissioner who i wouldn't trust with my mother, and that's why i trust him with your mother. to be clear. all the deaths in the nursing homes and in the hospitals were always fully, publicly and accurately reported. the numbers were the numbers always. people did request information beyond the place of death, not just where they -- how many in a nursing home, not just how many in a hospital. they did request different categorizations beyond those counts. how many people died who were in a nursing home but then went to a hospital? how many people died who were in a hospital but they went back to a nursing home? how do you count presumed kooefd deaths? everyone was busy. everybody was here every day. we're in the midth of managing a pandemic there was a delay providing the press and the public all that additional information. the there was a delay. what did we learn from this entire situation? what are we still learning? in are hospitals that performed well and there are hospitals that performed less well. we still see hospitals performing less well. the when you look at those vaccination numbers, hospitals with the same demographics of workforce, in the same region, with different vaccination rates of their staff, that's in this year of performance of those hospitals. there are nursing homes that performed well, and there are nursing homes that -- that did not perform as well. we have to learn from it, and we have to correct it before we have another surge and another pandemic, and by the way, we are going to have another pandemic. as i sit here, i would plan on it, and, yes, this was never seen before and, yes, hospitals had to deal withing is they had never deal with something that they had seep before and nursing homes had to deal with something they have never seen before but they will see it again and now we have to learn from it before it happens again. our focus i believe is going to be on the for-profit nursing homes. hospitals, low-performing hospitals but also on the for-profit nursing homes. i have long believed that there's attention in a for-profit nursing home because those institutions are trying to make money. if you're trying to make profit, it's too easy to sacrifice patient care. everything becomes one or the other. the do you want to hire more staff, do you want to make more profit? do you want to buy more ppe and stock tile ppe or do you want to buy new equipment, new beds, new sheets, invest in the facility or make more profit? that tension is a problem, and that has to be resolved legislatively because i don't want to leave it to these for-profit owners to decide what's right, what's wrong. let's learn these lessons. we have to implement hospital reform and nursing reform and we have to do it in this budget cycle. covid isn't done with us. the implement the lessons now, and we're going to propose them in the 30-day amendments. if you're a for-profit nursing home, i believe you -- it should be mandated how much you put back into the facility and how much profit you can make. i believe that. the nursing hospitals that have these issues, they have to improve, and we have to take it into consideration when there's a surge. if there's an influx into hospitals, not all hospitals can handle it equally, and that's why you saw some hospitals fail. if you could do it all over again, just rewind the tape. i understand the public had many questions and concerns and the press had many questions about nursing homes primarily, and i understand that they were not answered quickly enough, and they should have been prioritized and prioritize those requests sooner, i believe that. the i understand the reasons. i understand that there was a lot going on. everybody was working 24 hours a day. everybody was overwhelmed. we were in the midst of dealing with the pandemic and trying to save lives. they were answering d.o.j. and nursing homes and the hospitals were also in the middle of hell and the middle of a pandemic, and they were scram blirngs and they were managing the crisis. i understand all of that. but the void we created by not providing information was filled with skepticism and cynicism and conspiracy theories which furthered the done fusion. the nature abhors a vacuum. so does the political system. you don't provide information. something will provide the information. most of all the void we created allowed disinformation, and that created more anxieties for the families of loved ones. i've had hundreds of conversations. people couldn't get into the facility to see their loved one. they couldn't get them on the phone. they couldn't get staff on the phone to get answers. they were powerless. they were helpless. they were literally physically removed and isolated. the loved ones died alone. loved ones died alone. fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters died alone. t it was horrific. it was horrific, and then the void in information that we created started misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories and now people have to hear that, and they don't know what is the truth. the truth is everybody did everything they could. the truth is you had the best medical professionals and advice on the globe. the truth is it was in the middle of a terrible pandemic. the truth is covid attacks senior citizens. the truth is with all we know people still die in nursing homes today. people still die every day. we're testing the staff twice a week. the there's no visitation. the people still die. you would have to hermetically seal a nursing home. they actually tried this in france where the staff lived in the nursing home. anybody can bring it in, a delivery man brings it in. the heating repair man brings it in. the flood service brings it in. staff person goes home an meets with their family, someone in the family has it. the staff member comes back and brings it in. even when you're testing twice a week, twice a week, you'll get get people who have it and the miss them in the twice a week. that is the reality, but not providing the information creates the void. the void allowed and conspiracy and now people are left with the thought of did my loved one have to guy and that is a brute al brute al question to pose to a person, and want everyone to know everything was done. everything was done by the best wins in the west trmts and the last thing that we wanted to do, the last thing that i wanted to do, was to aggravate a terrible situation. there is no request when you lose a loved one. i lost my father years ago. i skill go through it other and over again. what should i have done? what could i have said in the doctor. i probably always will. last thing i want to do is aggravate that for everyone. >> with that lets take questions. >> thank you, governor. if you would like to ask a question use the raise hand function at the bottom of the window. we'll take a couple minutes to comprise the q&a roster. >> governor, your first question comes from steve burns at wcbs 880. your line is now open. unmute your microphone. >> governor, can you hear me? >> hey, steve, how you doing, buddy? happy presidents' day. >> same to you and everyone there, thank you. a couple of questions for you. the first regarding the nursing home information. the given that the explanation has been that there was the doj request that had to be handled first, the legislature i've seen a few tweets from some lawmakers saying basically why didn't doh inform the legislature that they had this doj request and that they couldn't handle the lawmakers' request at the same time? secondly on subways. i know the mta's request for an additional 1,000 officers, also coincides with this police reform initiative and i'm sure a lot of those initiatives will have to do with mental health, police responding to mental health situations. do you feel like it's the right move to send another 1,000 officers into the mta system to primarily deal with people having mental health problems? >> yeah, steve, good question. two questions. first one, both houses were told. the state legislators are wrong. both houses were told that we had the doj request and we were going to give precedent to a doj request. they were both told, and -- and, yes. the we gave the department of justice request precedence over the state legislators' request, true. federal government took precedence over the state legislators' request. i know the state legislators. i've spoken to them. they said we're just as important as the department of justice. i understand their point of view. we gave precedence to the department of justice. we told the assembly that. we told the senate that. and that's what we're do and we're also in the midst of managing a doctor and dr. zucker is here every day and dr. zucker is here every night at midnight and dr. zucker is dealing with the hospitals, et cetera, but, yes, we prioritized doj over the state legislature and that's what they focused on and forgot -- besides the state legislature, there were people requests. there were press requests that were not answered on a timely basis and that created the void that i'm talking about, and then once you create a void people spread disinformation. this conspiracy theory, this conspiracy theory. they are not giving you this information because of this, because of this, because of this, and -- and if you lost a loved one and you're hearing all these theories and all this negativity then you say maybe my father didn't have to die, and that's -- that's the unfortunate circumstance but short answer steve they did know. they did know. they were told. assembly and senate, we have the department of justice. we're giving them precedence. on the police reform, i believe you need more public safety in the subway stations. i believe you need better safety, public safety in the city overall. i believe you need better public safety in cities writ large overall. you focus on new york city. we've had situations in rochester where a 9-year-old girl was pepper sprayed. you have situations in buffalo where they knocked the protester to the ground, he hit his head, he has ongoing damage. it was on videotape. it was brurt a. you have public safety issues nationwide, george floyd. all i'm saying to new york city is you figure it out. you figure it out. you have community tension where they don't trust the police. you have nypd tension where they feel they can't do their job. that's not going to work until you reconcile that relationship. it won't do it on it own. you need a collaborative. are many localities talking about taking public safety and breaking it down and saying if you have mental health issues then deal with it as a mental health issue and -- and rather than just the police and an answer to every situation may not hab police officer. may be a mental health professional. when the mta asked for 1,000 police, that's all there is to ask for now. if they come up with a new public safety plan and they say, look, we're going to have mental health experts and they are going to deploy to mental health-related complaints, fine. then that sounds right and that sounds sound, and if they come up with a different public safety strategy then, fine. fit that to the subway station, but right now all you have are police. there are no mental health experts to question, right? but if they develop that into the plan. they will just say fine, just send me people responsive to the question. >> was there not the capacity in doh to fulfill both the doj request and the legislature's request at the same time? >> they focused on the doj request, you know, steve. they were dealing with everything at the time. remember, when you wake up in the morning job one for the past year has been dealing with the crisis of the moment, right? is dealing with whatever the issue is. today's variants of interest. today it's sorting out the vaccination system. every day is has been something, and that was given priority. in retrospect should we have given more priority to fulfilling information requests? in my opinion yes. yes, and i think that's what created the void. but do i understand the pressure that everybody was under? yes. i understand that also. it's not like people were in the south of france, right? it's not like people were on vacation. they were here every day, and fulfill the -- fulfilling, fork, the state legislature's request was -- was not given -- the dv o jv request was given a priority. that was -- the houses were both informed. they can't say they didn't know steve, you know. you asked me for an interview. i say i can't do your interview now because i have to do x, y, z interviews. they knew. the [ inaudible question ] >> next up, we have david evans from wabc. please, unmute your microphone. >> beth was adding something and then we'll go to dave. the go ahead, beth. >> thank you. so the august 26th response or august 26th letter to the state was actually publicized by the doj with a press release and was widely reported in the papers as well, so i respective as to whether or not we communicated with the legislature which we did, anyone who was following the press coverage at the time would have seen their press release related to issuing this letter to the four states, new jersey, pennsylvania, michigan and new york. >> so the point is, dave, if i might. the legislature knew full and well that we had a request from the department of justice in august. it was in the press that we received in august. it was in the press that we received the second one in october. we literally read about it in the paper ourselves, and they knew because they were told that that was getting precedence over dealing with the state legislative requests but we would get to the state request but we needed to focus first on the doj request. dave evans. >> can you hear me? >> i got my vaccine this morning so i can thank you for that, but i wanted to for just a second turn back to the nurse being home for a sec. so what you're saying is all of these calls were investigations from the department of justice, both republicans and democrats in albany are asking for. you see this as toxic political payback, and the second thing that goes with that is then what you talked about with your executive powers, this story that's out there this afternoon of negotiations ongoing about the legislature could do something holding your feet to the fire on that in order to get something on the budget, i mean, talk about raw politics. that seems to smack of it. >> yeah. two things. the department of justice had what's called a request for information, not an investigation. the second letter you could contrue from the department of justice to be talking about an investigation of private nursing homes. there are private nursing homes that are private nursing homes. the state doesn't run them. they are just private nursing homes, and the letter from the department of justice asked information about the private nursing homes because they were look at the private nursing homes. [ inaudible ] >> i'm sorry. >> i'm sorry, go ahead. >> but my point is we then didn't respond to the new york state legislature's request because we were, and we told them we're going to deal with the department of justice first. also, by the way, because we were dealing with managing the pandemic, right? everything takes time, and we were dealing with managing the pandemic, but we told the state legislature we would get to their q.they come back into session in january, this past january. we said we would get to their request. the -- you can not, dave. it's -- raw politics is one thing. this is new york. we thrive on raw politics, right? you can't use -- legally you can't use an investigation to leverage a person in another matter. you can't use a subpoena or the threat of a subpoena or the threat of an investigation to leverage a person to do something else. that's illegal and that's just illegal. it's illegal for anyone to do it as a lawyer you get debarred for that. that's it a crime. that's not raw politics. next question, operator. >> governor. next up we have dennis slattery from "the dale i news." please unmute your microphone. >> dennis slattery. >> governor, can you hear me. >> yes, sir. >> i have two questions. just going back to the do in request. it was not initially a probe. it was a request for information, but the initial one from august was a very narrow scope only asking about state-run facilities? i'm just curious when you informed the legislative leaders about your response to that and how that would slow down you responding to the state legislators' questions posed earlier that month. >> the first was public nursing homes and the second request was private nursing homes. we told the legislature we had the questions. we told them we gave that request precedence. more than anything it was just a capacity issue. remember, at the same time, we're managing the pandemic. that's what everybody was doing, and these things all take time and the number one priority was saving people's lives every day. >> governor. yes, if i could just add on top of that. we received this inquiry on august 26th. it was just a request for information, but it was public nursing homes which are five state-run facilities as well as a number of county-run facilities, and so data had to be collected and reviewed for a number of nursing homes. i believe it was 26 nursing homes that we provided voluminous documentation, and all that have had to be verified. >> do you have a second question? >> yeah. just going back to the story we about the budget negotiations and some lawmakers talking about the threat of subpoena or, you know, rescinding your emergency powers. you touched on this earlier. i'm kind of curious your response to that and have you spoken to the legislative leaders about this? >> yeah. dennis, that is -- that is a crime. you can't say i'm a former district attorney. you can't use a subpoena or the threat of an investigation to leverage a person. that's a crime. it's called abuse of process. it's called extortion. so, the question before is that raw poll snakes no, that's not raw politics. that's criminal, and there are -- i don't know the facts. i wasn't in the room, but in the room you have lawyers. you have former prosecutors in that room and they know it's illegal, but, no, i didn't talk to the leaders about it. next question. >> next up we have marsha kramer from wcbstv. your line is open. please unmute your microphone. >> hey, marsha, how are you? happy valentine's day. >> so my question to you is this. the members -- several members of the legislature, some republicans, some democrats, have asked that there be an investigation of what happened. if that investigation was done, it might be, for example, be done by the attorney general. you're a former attorney general. if you were in this situation and looked at this fact pattern, would you open an investigation of what has happened so far, and my second part of the question is do you think if there was an investigation and the attorney general agreed with everything that you said that it would help clear the air? >> marsha, i don't think there's anything to clear here. it is a fact that the state legislature did a request. we told them we were not going to address the request at that time, that we were going to honor the doj request first. we said that. that's a fact. there's nothing to investigate that, and -- and then we provided information to doj so there's no -- there is nothing to investigate. i am telling you i agree to the legislature's point. the they sent the letter and we said we would deal with the doj first. i said that. they were told that, and by the way, they could have objected. they are not talking about speen, as. they could have sent a subpoena and said we're not waiting for doj. we're not going to do that. they understood we were dealing with a pandemic and that we were giving doj precedence. and by the way i believe they were right in that. all the numbers we produced were exactly right. we didn't provide all the information that was requested that did create a void and misinformation filled that void and that misinformation gave people aggravation and confused people, confused people who lost had a loved up and allows conspiracy theories to fester, and that aggravated people who lost a loved one and you don't know who to believe because that's the last thing anyone wanted to create but it's not a legal question. >> so are you really saying that this is sort of the creation of a toxic -- >> you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. you've been listening to andrew cuomo, the governor of new york and let's just zoom out for a second. so the governor there, really the embattled governor, could be in a bit of trouble. he has really come under fire, and you heard question after question after question about this nursing home issue. he's come under fire because the allegations are that he, his administration covered up, hid, undercounted the number of nursing home deaths in the state of new york. you think back to new york, the epicenter of the pandemic last spring. a lot of eyeballs on him and his leadership in this state, and so there are now calls for him to resign. specifically democratic state legislatures are calling for the appeal of his emergency powers. he's pushing back. you heard him say that emergency powers have nothing to do with nursing homes so let's get some context and talk about his defense. brynn gingras is our correspondent who has been in the weeds there in albany and elizabeth cohen is our senior medical correspondent and we'll come to you in a second, elizabeth. bryn, to you. we've been listening to the governor for the better part of half an hour. what do you make of his defense? >> reporter: well, there's a lot town pack there, brooke, that's for sure. >> yeah. >> reporter: i will tell you i don't know if it's going to please a lot of people. this is very andrew cuomo. if you talk to people who know him or worked for him they say he doesn't apologize for anything. you won't get an apology from him. this may be the closest anyone will ever get from an apology when it comes to this issue, but, again, there's still so many questions out there that i think that people won't necessarily be snide with this explanation of a lot of topics. one thing i really do want to point out though is that this issue with the nursing homes, right, the whole issue is that they were being counted in a way that, like you said, they were underreported according to the attorney general who did a whole investigation into it. they weren't clear about how many actual elderly people in nursing homes, long-term care facilities died from covid-19. they have been separated into all these different categories and it was creating this confusion. the governor admitted to that, right, and he said put out information and the reason governor cuomo was lauded globally for his response to the pandemic because he was so clear and forthcoming and now he's saying he really wasn't that forthcoming. he actually could have done better. they should have prioritized who they gave this information to so he was criticizing, you know, the trump administration, different politicians across this country about how they put forth this information but he was doing the same thing so i think that's so frustrating for people who for months have been just trying to get information as to where their loved one's number s.sure, we know the state counted the totals. they had the totals according to them correct. it's just how they were categorized. that's the whole issue people will still want answers to. another thing that, of course, this all is just becoming a boiling point, right, because of that -- that phone call, zoom phone call that his top aide melissa derosa had with democratic lawmakers where she explained what you heard from the governor that they prioritized the doj request about the numbers over the legislature's request and public's request and in that phone call the text says we didn't want those numbers uses against us. what does that mean. the there was no explanation of what that used against us really means when we're talking about this so that's where the whole cover-up allegation came about and that's where all the investigation calls come about, so i think there's a little bit of clarity and very much in an andrew cuomo way and a lot of people won't be satisfied with what they are hearing. >> just so much to pick through and at end of the day, elizabeth cohen to you, people watching this and wondering well, why does it matter how deaths are counted? what's your teens that? >> so it does matter how deaths are count asked. there's a reason why states and counties and cities count deaths in nursing homes versus deaths in other places or deaths, men versus women. all these categories matter. part what have gets to the heart of this is the counting of people who died in nursing homes, likely the rally died in the nursing home versus people who became ill who contracted covid in the nursing home and then later died later in hospitals. this is not the first time nor will it be the last time that there is confusion over a point like that. for example, sometimes in other places you'll see somebody becomes sick in a hospital. they are transferred to another hospital where they die. where should you count that death, so we're sort of watching the sausages get made here, and i think it gets -- this is one of the reasons why it gets confusing. it does matter where deaths are counted, but you also want to take a step back and say, look, this was an extremely confusing time. i mean, brooke, you're in new york. you remember what it was like. >> yeah. >> and so we have to think, you know, how much could they have delineated that at the time versus sort of fixed it later? >> elizabeth and bryn, ladies thank you so much for all of that on governor cuomo. let's stay on covid. scientists discovering more variants of the coronavirus here in the u.s., but here's the good news today. cases are still dropping dramatically. we have those new details ahead. also, the pressure is growing on president biden to pass a new covid relief bill as millions of americans are inching closer to losing their crucial jobless benefits, and senator lindsey graham says former president trump's daughter-in-law lara is the future of the gop. let's discuss. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. lion transiss into this chip i invested in invesco qqq a fund that invests in the innovators of the nasdaq 100 like you become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq you can't claim that as a dependent! like you because it's inanimate! people ask me what sort of person should become a celebrity accountant. and, i tell them, "nobody should." hey, buddy. what's the damage? i bought it! the waterfall? 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like what's the point of this? >> i don't think there really is a point other than appeasing donald trump. full disclosure i worked for richard burr in his first campaign and the united states senate and agree wholeheartedly of his vote. i was really proud of him. this is what we've seen republicans do for four years. always hustled to score points with donald trump. the reality is he doesn't give points, he takes them away one at a time and i would tell michael watley the state party chair, a bigger problem for republicans in north carolina than richard burr who is anates for the party, not a problem by any stretch, is the fact that since january 6th republicans, more than 15,000 parties have left the party and left as unaffiliated. that number has increased in recent days as well and if you're losing 15,000 people in january and february of an off year you've got a real problem that you need to address. >> and i would love to hear your friend, the state party chair's response to that. there is now, ron, a significant minority, senator burr and the six other republican senators whose views just clearly are not compatible with donald trump. add to that trump's former ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley who is rumored to have eyes on 2024 who made this calculated political risk this past week to distance herself from trump. now senator lindsey graham says his fellow south carolinian is wrong and offered this instead about trump. >> he's ready to move on and rebuild the republican party. he's excited about 2022, and i'm going to go down to talk with him next week, play a little golf in florida, and i said, mr. president, this maga movement needs to continue. we need to unite the party. trump plus is the way back in 2022. >> playing golf with him next week. he said he was done on the night of the insurrection. i digress. the ron brown strewn, how will we know, will 2022 really be the litmus test for trumpism? >> well, look, i think lindsey graham is more right than wrong in this -- in this regard. the i mean, donald trump has accelerated an ongoing reconfiguration of the republican coalition. in the '80s they talked about the republican coalition and ronald reagan being a three-legged stool, national security, cultural conservetives and religious conservatives and now the culture of the party is the most uneasy about the way the country is changing demographically and culturally. three-quarters of republicans say that whites face as much discrimination as minorities. new polling out from another conservative think take, ethics in public policy. two-thirds of republicans say christianity is under assault in the u.s. and 10% say that systematic racism is a problem in the u.s. this is the core of the republican party and what's especially ominous, brooke, is that those attitudes have been shown in multiple studies, those concerns about the way the country is changing demographically and culturally, are the voters -- the voters who hold those views are also the ones who are most likely to express anti-democratic thoughts and sentiments and support for the kind of conspiracy theories like qanon, so this is a real challenge for mainstream republican leaders to try to get ahold -- to contain this movement when it's such a big portion of their base at this point. >> listen, speaking of maybe containing it or not. doug, this is for you. lindsey graham really said the biggest winner out of the whole impeachment trial is lara trump. his direct quote was if she runs, i will certainly be behind her because i think she represents the future of the republican party. already you think of that, doug, and how many trumps could we see on a 2022 ballot? >> look, i think lindsey graham has gone from enough is enough to quoting idol that too much is never enough and whatever trump he can get, whether he's playing golf with them tore trying to have them win in other states he'll do. look, mark walker, the former congressman is a very strong candidate running in north carolina, and the party remains with real divisions. lindsey graham at mitted that the party needs to be rebuilt, and it needs to be rebuilt because we have the struggle that we saw in the house republican conference meeting where liz cheney beat back a challenge overwhelmingly so while at the same time republican members of the conference were applauding marjorie taylor greene. those two things really can't stand on their own together. >> i think the test will be two years from now. ron and doug, we'll continue it another day. thank you so much. good to see boast you. >> thanks, brooke. >> thank you. coming up, coronavirus cases dropping in a big way nationwide but scientists also discovering more manned more variants of the virus. what that means for all of us next. what that means for all of us next. preciate you, man! go pro and get double the protein for just $2 more. the new ergo smart base from tempur-pedic responds to snoring automatically. so no hiding under your pillow, or opting for the couch. your best sleep. all night. every night. renew your sleep with the one-of-a-kind comfort of tempur-pedic, and save up to $500 on adjustable mattress sets. oh no... i thought i just ordered tacos. nope!... ramen... burgers... milk from the store, and... ...cookies? wha, me hungry! here, i'll call some friends to help us eat. yeah, that good idea. get more from your neighborhood. hey yo, grover! doordash. get exactly what you want on wayfair. hey yo, grover! hi. last piece. -kelly clarkson? you're welcome. like an updated kitchen in just an afternoon. it's a whole new look. -drinks? from the new kitchen cart? -yes. the bedroom style of your dreams. this room is so you. -i got it all on wayfair. yeah you did, and so did i. the perfect setup for game night. i know this! it's the singer, it's the singer! yes! i got next game. -kelly clarkson. i love this sofa. look at the storage. you like my sofa? -i love your sofa. some say this is my greatest challenge ever. but i've seen centuries of this. with a companion that powers a digital world, traded with a touch. the gold standard, so to speak ;) from truly encouraging news. cases in hospitalizations are declining sharply in the u.s. the country is now averaging fewer than 100,000 new cases per day and more than half of the states report a 20% drop in cases from the week before. yes, there is still a ways to go. the nation's vaccine rollout is progressing, albeit slowly. only 4% of the country has been fully vaccinated. and health officials warn americans not to expect vaccines to be widely available until late spring or summer. another concern there are several homegrown variants right here in the u.s. nick watt joins us, where vaccines are in short supply. >> reporter: thermal cameras in l loudoun county, virginia, ready to scan students for high temperatures when they return later this week. when can all schools reopen? >> somewhere around 60% of students are reliably masking. that has to be universal. we have work to do. >> and debate on one key issue rolls on. >> of course, teacher vaccinations are essential. >> i'm a strong advocate of teachers receiving their vaccinations, but we don't believe it's a prerequisite for schools to reopen. >> in 22 states, teacher is still not an eligible category. today, many places, this is the problem. >> this weather is going to slow down or vaccinations some. >> here in los angeles, in the 60s, partly sunny. but the vaccination site at dodger stadium remains closed. lack of supply. team biden says they're playing catch up. >> there was no national strategy or plan for vaccinations. we were leaving it to the states and local leaders to try and figure it out. and so in many ways, we are come -- we are starting from scratch on something that's been raging for almost an entire year. >> reporter: good news, nationwide in just a month, the average daily covid-19 case count has fallen more than 50%. and for the first time since mid-november, fewer than 70,000 are in the hospital, fighting the virus. >> i know a bunch of states are relaxing their restrictions. that makes me nervous. those mutations give me pause. >> reporter: nearly 1,200 cases confirmed here of those more contagious variants first found in the uk, south africa and brazil. >> now they're on our radar screen. now that we're looking for them, we're finding them. >> reporter: several homegrown u.s. variants also verified. so far no evidence they evade vaccines, but signs they may be more transmissible. the research goes on. >> so, the variants and the vaccines, that is one of the big questions right now. novavax, their vaccine is still in trials in the u.s. the company says that their researchers have begun lab tests on a different version of that vaccine specifically targeting that variant first found in south africa. they will still need to figure out whether that would be a booster shot or if it would be a one shot covers all. the wild strain and the south african variant. brooke? >> i have one quick question for you. 60 seconds left. i want to ask about kids. we got in this news that the 89% of u.s. children live in what's considered a red zone under the new cdc guidelines for school reopenings. >> yeah. >> what does that mean? tell us more about that. >> well, brooke, you're now hitting on the second -- one of the second figures -- the second question right now, which is when can most kids get back into school? when the cdc released those guidelines friday, 99% of kids were living in those red zones. that's now dropped to 89. we are moving in the right direction. what it means if you are in one of those zones is that middle school and high school should remain virtual, should remain virtual. and for elementary schools, they also need to take some pretty serious mitigation measures. heading in the right direction but still no answer, particularly here in california, when kids can go back. >> got it. nick, thank you so much, in los angeles for us this afternoon. and just a quick programming note for all of you. president joe biden will be joining anderson cooper live from milwaukee, wisconsin, in this exclusive presidential town hall. make sure you tune in tomorrow night, 9:00 eastern only here on cnn. i'm brooke baldwin in new york. thank you so much for being with me. to washington we go. "the lead" starts right now. welcome to the special edition of "the lead." i'm pamela brown in today for jake tapper on this monday. we begin with the health lead. the coronavirus pandemic. today, there is encouraging news. the vast majority of the country is seeing the number of new infections decrease. hospitalizations are also on the decline. and in a little more than a month, hospitalizations have plummeted by 34%. the promise from the biden administration to reopen schools remains unfulfilled. as cnn's jason carroll reports, new guidance from the cdc is not focused just o

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