european countries are suspending the use of a different vaccine over reports of dangerous blood clots in a small number of recipients. the vaccine has not been authorized for use yet here in the united states. the company expected to apply for that authorization quite soon. and dr. anthony fauci is keeping an eye on europe today offering a new warning as new cases in the united states are plateauing at a dangerously high level. about 50,000 cases a day. and he wants to make sure that we as a country don't end up in the same situation that europe is facing right now. >> europe is generally a few weeks ahead of us in the dynamics of the outbreak. and they had play towing and then they pull back a bit on their mitigation methods. the all of a sudden, it started to surge again. we want to mike ake sure that doesn't happen here in the united states. >> part of that equation is vaccines. let's start with the news coming out this morning about moderna's trials involving children. elizabeth cohen is joining me now. she is looking at the details that are released. elizabeth, what are the details of this pediatric trial? ? >> let's take a look at this, kate. this is very interesting. a second vaccine maker in the u.s. is doing a trial on children. right now there are no vaccines for children under the ages of 16. so moderna's vaccine is limited to 18 and older. let's take a look at what they're doing. they're doing a trial with 7,000 participants. these are children ages 6 months old to 11 years old. they're in canada and the u.s. they're testing to see whether different doses should be used for children 6 months to 2 years versus 2 years to 11 years. they'll be doing that trial. we don't know when they're going to have results. we do know that pfizer fully enrolled their trial with children in january. but still it will likely take months until we hear about their results and until children will be able to take the vaccine. >> is it a coincidence or side effect? serious concerns around the vaccine. the who is meeting today to look at the safety record as more and more countries aren't waiting for the answer. instead, they're pausing the use of vaccine entirely until they hear more. and the fda may be considering emergency use of the asvaccine this country. joining me now is our reporter from rome today. this is all about reports of the dangerous blood clots that have shown up in some recipients. but what exactly is going on here? >> i think, kate, it's important to understand the figures in terms of the people who actually had issues with blood clots after having been inoculated with the astrazeneca vaccine. the company is at pains to point this out as other regulatory bodies including the european medicines agency until now. out of 17 million people who received the astrazeneca shot in the united kingdom and eu, we're talking over 30 who were found to have the issues with the blood clots. but that led a few european countries to say we're going to pause the delivery of certain batches while we investigate it. then what happened is denmark came out and said yesterday something interesting. it wasn't so much about the number of people reporting problems, it was about the nature of the symptoms when they died which we found unusual. you saw that sweeping across the european union and european coordination, some countries like france, germany, italy, spain, the biggest economies announcing they were going to suspend it. this is all the subject of an investigation. the european medicines agency is expected to deliver the vert on thursday. they said we believe that rollout should continue. the problem is, kate, of course once these investigations start, once these suspensions begin, it is a question of confidence in the vaccine and that is something, of course that, the entire world is looking at. it is also a question of supplies here in europe. covid-19, third wave is sweeping across the continent. this part of europe, i'm speaking to you from, rome, now under a strict lockdown once again. it is urge jnt they fix the problems they h the latest pause in the astrazeneca vaccine is a massive blow to. that you're talking about eight million injections eight million vaccines currently sitting on shelves and they cannot be put into people's arms. >> wow. thanks so much, melissa. really appreciate it. joining me for more on this is the director of the vaccine education center at the children's hospital philadelphia. he is also a member of the f.d.a.'s vaccine advisory board. really leaning on your area of expertise today. what melissa bell is reporting out of rome right now with astrazeneca, this really is confusing to me. you have countries halting use of the vaccine over fears of a possible connection to blood clotting and small number of recipients. but the company data, the world health organization, the european medicines agency, they're saying right now that they don't suggest that there is a real connection though they're looking more at the data. can you just give me your take on this? do you think they have reason to be concerned? or do you think they jumped too soon? >> so this shouldn't be that hard. i mean, so, for example, in this country, when we release the pfizer and moderna vaccines, we look at a variety of problems including blood clots to see whether or not the incidents of blood clots is greater in a vaccinated versus unvaccinated group. the united states, there are 900,000 people a year that develop blood clots. you see advertisements on television for preventing or treating deep vein thrombosis. it's not that difficult to do. that we've seen there is no greater instance of blood clots. in europe, in european countries, that should be done. it appears it may have been done in the united kingdom. nonetheless, you have country after country after country in europe saying we need to suspend this vaccine until we figure this out. so i just think they need to halt an emergency meeting now to gather these data and see whether there is an increase in incidence. if there is, that's a problem. if there isn't, what they've done by withholding the vaccine is they put a cloud over this vaccine. and while it's very he's why i to scare people, it's much harder to unscare them. i fear that's what we're about to find out. >> that's actually what i was going to ask you. i wonder no matter what comes out of an emergency meeting if you think, if you fear that some damage has been done as we know, vaccine hesitancy isn't just a problem in the united states. it's a problem around the world. >> absolutely. and so it's hard to unring a bell. i think it will take a massive effort to try and if we find which i think is likely, but we'll see, whether or not the -- when you get this vaccine, the astrazeneca vaccine, you're more likely than an unvaccinated person to develop blood clots. we find out that is not the case. we are going to have a the lo of education to do. but it is hard to unring the bell. i feel badly about this in the sense this vaccine was sort of touted as the world's vaccine and certainly this country's only as strong as the weakest countries out there in terms of preventing this virus. i mean, you know, we international travel is gone up. we need to eliminate this vie ris from the world. >> you are surprised by what, i mean it really has become kind of this cascading effect of some countries and then you've got france, germany, spain, i mean and kind of all following suit without additional information. it's just over fears that there could be a problem. i'm a bit surprised. >> i think a risk to the communication is not sort of the compelling desire to communicate all theoretical risks. one risk is clear. the risk of this disease is clear. i feel like we elevated this theoretical risk above a real risk and in the end might be doing more harm than good from doing that. >> if i can change and turn now to the trial. moderna announcing that the first children have been vaccinated in the late stage clinical trial. what -- this is ripe in your area of expertise. what are you looking at when you have the pfizer and moderna trials under way with kids? what are you looking for closely here? >> so what the companies are trying to do is make sure they have the right dose. they're doing dose ranging trials. phase one dose ranging trials. once they feel they have a dose that can be safely administered and is inducing immune response that they believe is likely to be associated, then they will move to a phase three trial where they look at now thousands of children who get that dose and that dosing interval to make sure that it's safe and thousands of children and that it can -- we can move forward with this. i think we need a vaccine for children. i think if we're going to get to 80% population immunity some level children need to be vaccinated. children can die from this disease. there are more than 170 children that died last year of covid-19. that's about the same number as die every year from the flu for which we also recommend the vaccine. and we see this unusual disease in children which can be pretty upsetting. and so there is many reasons to vaccinate children. >> do you have a sense of what this means in terms of possible time line for approval for use in kids? >> it's hard to take -- to guess on these things. if i had to make a rough guess, i would think it is possible that we would have enough vaccines, enough data for children now to 12 years of age by the summer and then for much younger children by later in the year. but we'll see. >> yeah. as we have all become amateur experts. with he no he that first you have to get through the trial and then can you start making the time lines. thank you, dr. offet. always appreciate your time. >> am coulding up, president biden is hitting the road as cities are getting ready to receive millions of dollars in covid-19 relief. i'm going to talk to one mayor next about how exactly pher cit plans to spend the money. plus, overcrowded facilities and unsanitary conditions. we're going to take you to the u.s.-mexico bored wrer thousands of migrants are now in custody and in the midst of what is becoming a big political battle is someone trying to steal your butterfinger? call the bfi. ♪ linda? no one lays a finger on your butterfinger. no one lays a finger (man) i'm a verizon engineer, part of the team that built 5g right, the only one from america's most reliable network. we designed our 5g to make the things you do every day better. with 5g nationwide, millions of people can now work, listen, and stream in verizon 5g quality. and in parts of many cities where people can use massive capacity, we have ultra wideband, the fastest 5g in the world. this is the 5g that's built for you. this is 5g built right. only from verizon. mom and dad left costa rica, 1971. and in 1990, they opened irazu. when the pandemic hit, pickup and delivery was still viable. and that kept us afloat. keeping our diners informed on google was so important. the support from our customers, it honestly kept us going. i will always be grateful for that. advil dual action fights pain 2 ways. it's the first and only fda approved combination of advil plus acetaminophen. advil targets pain. acetaminophen blocks it. advil dual action. fast pain relief that lasts 8 hours. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ out here, you're a landowner, ♪ ♪ a gardener, a landscaper and a hunter. that's why you need versatile, durable kubota equipment. . president biden starts his tour around the country to promote the covid-19 relief package. he is heading in pennsylvania in a few hours and visiting a small business outside of philadelphia. he'll ramp up the sales pitch of the plan highlighting the financial assistance that rescue plan is providing to small businesses. joining me for much more on this whole strategy and this rollout, cnn's john harwood. what do you think of this plan from the white house? this rollout to promote the package? >> well, kate, it's a really important and often neglected phase of big government initiatives. it's hard to pass big government programs. but it's very important after you pass them to then both promote them, to maintain popularity but also explain them. so people understand what the benefits are. you pass a benefit program and people who are eligible don't take up the program, don't apply for the benefits, i don't achieve what you want. there are a variety of subsidies and forms of assistance for small businesses, particularly very small businesses in underserved areas that have not taken for various reasons either logistical or otherwise taken advantage of previous rounds of assistance. so he's going to chester, pennsylvania, outside of philadelphia, to promote some of those plans for small business. and they've got to try to make sure that you get the money out the door, you know, some of it is easy for the treasury to send money to bank accounts of people for whom already have information for past tax refunds. that's not all that hard. but you got to get the money out the door in terms of checks and debit cards for people that you don't have the bank information for. same with tax credit. same with the vaccination aid. you have to make sure that money gets out. it's getting used for the proper purposes. that's why the president appointed jean sperlg, experienced democratic economic official to see that program. but today is about small business and making sure having lost 400,000 small businesses over the past year, they want to lose as few as possible and trying to get that assistance rapidly out to try to achieve the economic rebound that joe biden wants. >> and rapidly, you just said that is also key with this rollout. getting that money out there and spent and used with urgency and rapidly and quickly. timing here is of the essences is well when you talk about this being a rescue stimulus bill. that is part of it, that is big on gene sperlg's job right now. at the same time as john is laying out, the president is selling this covid-19 relief package, cities and states across the country are getting ready to receive a tremendous amount of cash. $350 billion from the covid-19 relief bill package is slated to go to state and local governments to help shore up their budgets from the hit that they have taken during the pandemic. so once the money in hand, what do they do with it? joining me right now for more on this is the mayor of st. louis. mayor, thank you for coming in. i saw you said yesterday that your city will be getting about $500 million, the first half coming in may. the second half a year from now. where are the plans for where the money is going? and when does it need to be spent? >> kate, thank you very much for having me on. we're very excited about having $500 million. half will be received in may of this year and half of it in may of last year. do you to spend the money over about 3 1/2 years. so by december 31st, 2024. so that's a long period of time, i think, to meet the crisis that cities are facing and our city here in st. louis is facing. so we're excited about that opportunity. we have a huge revenue short fall as a result of covid-19. of course, we also have a housing crisis, a looming eviction crisis and many other needs. we have a lot of people who are hurting, who are out of jobs or have had they're hours reduced and are really on the edge. so we're quite encouraged by this stimulus money. >> mayor, you mention housing crisis, looming eviction crisis and also obviously unemployment that many cities are dealing with. can you be more specific of where the money is going to go? >> well, we expect that a large amount of this money will go to providing rental assistance, additional funds go to providing homeless assistance. many people are couch surfing or are literally don't have their own bed to sleep in at night. so a lot of this money will go in that direction. we also expect st. louis has a very high poverty rate. and in addition to that, we have a very old building stock. and so we're also hoping to be able to use some of these funds to bring some buildings back up to provide for good workforce housing for people. a lot of needs. housing certainly public safety, replacing our general revenue that has been lost and will continue to be lost for a while. are just some of the key things. >> you said -- i've seen you said the city's revenue dropped by the figure that i saw was by $90 million because of the pandemic. you're getting $500 million over the next two years from this. so you're getting more than five times the revenue drop that you have -- that the hit in revenue that you have taken from the pandemic. this is more than making up to are what was lost from the pandemic. >> well, it is. however, we had about a $20 million loss in last fiscal year which that would have been really march, april, may, june. and then close to a $70 million loss in the current fiscal year that we're in. and this is not over. i mean, we're very encouraged. today actually is the day that we had our first covid-19 case in st. louis last year on march 16th. so things certainly look a lot better today than they did on march 16th of last year. but our businesses have not recovered. we have many, many businesses that are out of business. we have many people that are out of work as a result of covid-19. it's time to turn the switch and make that happen. so that additional revenue loss will continue on for the next couple of years. and this will assist with that along with, of course, trying to help our people and trying to help our businesses to sure them up during this time period. >> mayor, we have a lot of money coming your way. thanks for your time. >> thank you, kate. >> coming up, a record surge of migrants and the new plan to turn a convention center into temporary housing for thousands of teenagers. we look up to our heroes. idolizing them. mimicking their every move. and if she counts on the advanced hydration of pedialyte when it matters most... so do we. hydrate like our heroes. ♪ are you one of the millions of americans hydrawho experienceroes. occasional bloating, gas, or abdominal discomfort? taking align every day can help. align contains a quality probiotic developed by gastroenterologists. it adds more good bacteria to your gut, to naturally help soothe your occasional bloating, gas, and abdominal discomfort 24/7. support your digestive health with align, the #1 doctor recommended probiotic. try align today, the pros in digestive health. also try align dualbiotic gummies to help support digestive health. priceline works with top hotels, to save you up to 60%. these are all great. and when you get a big deal... you feel like a big deal. ♪ priceline. every trip is a big deal. my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching ...the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant™ with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™ janssen can help you explore cost support options. we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪ for nearly a decade, comcast has been helping students get ready. we've connected 4 million low-income students to low- cost, high-speed xfinity internet. we're working with hundreds of school districts across the country to sponsor free internet and laptops. and parents are seeing an impact. and now we're turning 1,000 community centers into lift zones - wifi enabled safe spaces to study. so more students can be ready for anything. i'm trying to do some homework here. right now the biden administration is looking for new and better housing options for the alarming number of migrant children crossing the southern border without their parents. a new plan to in the works to turn a dallas convention sent near a temporary shelter. according to a memo, more than 2,000 boys ages 15 to 17 who enter the u.s. alone will be the first to be housed there. two top biden administration officials on tv this morning are trying to make the case that they are doing everything that they can and that despite this very big problem, the border is secure. >> what we're doing is addressing young children who come to the border to make claims under the humanitarian laws that our country established years and years ago. and we are building the capacity to address the needs of those children when they arrive. >> we're moving really quickly a request for information for add additional facilities but it's important that we make sure that children are moved out of border patrol stations. >> so what are the migrants facing at the southern border? rosa flores is there. >> kate, here's how the process is supposed to work. border patrol encountered unaccompanied children, they have 72 hours to move them to hhs care. but that is not happening quickly enough right now along the u.s. border. attorneys that represent the children, what is happening is that some of the minors are spending five to seven days in the facility you see behind me without being able to go outside, without being able to call parents or family members and in crowded and unsanitary conditions. as tens of thousands of migrants make the dangerous journey to the u.s. southern border -- someone stole all her money along the way. many discover that getting here is just the beginning. some migrants describe -- crowded immigration processing centers. she says it was packed with people without showering facilities. do they let you shower? and some say they slept under a bridge overnight. on pebbles and sand while waiting to get transported to immigration processing facilities. once there, migrants say they get three meals a day. this as cnn learns about 4200 unaccompanied migrant children are in border control custody. attorneys blowing the whistle about children in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at this massive temporary center in donna, texas, where unaccompanied children including many under 10 years old are being held. some for five to seven days which is against u.s. law. peter shea is a lawyer representing thousands of unaccompanieded minors and says capacity is 1,000 detainees and right now it's holding about 2,000. >> it is an untenable situation. the administration needs to address immediately. >> the head of homeland security directed fema to help create more shelters for unaccompanied children and move them out of border patrol custody quickly. dhs border patrol officials say they do everything they can to take care of unaccompanied children in their care. as for mothers entering with children, many are released by border border patrol at this bus station. why did you come here? she said the economic crisis in her country is very severe. the reasons migrants say they're trekking to the united states varies. some like this man says he lost everything during a recent hurricane in honduras. and this woman says the toughest part of her journey was when they are daughter was hungry and she had no food says she's here because of the lack of jobs and the the abundance of violence in her home country. in prior years cnn obtained access to processing facilities. sometimes even just pen and paper. this time a team and i have been here for a week. we asked border patrol and customs and border protection access to the facility behind me and others like it, access has been denied. we've also asked border patrol about the account of the migrants that say that they waited under a bridge. that they spent the night there before being transported to processing facilities. and we have not heard back. kate? >> rosa, thank you so much for being there. thank you so much for that report. coming up for us, billboards are now popping up in atlanta in the fight over voting rights. the target not the lawmakers who are trying to make it harder to vote, rather, major companies calling on them to speak up. student loans don't have to take over for the rest of your life. with sofi it's possible to get them paid off and start new. not everybody wants the same thing. that's why i go with liberty mutual — they customize my car insurance so i only pay for what i need. 'cause i do things a bit differently. wet teddy bears! wet teddy bears here! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home. was that your great-grandmother, keeping the family together? was that your grandfather, paving the way for change. did they brave mother nature... and walk away stronger? did they face the unknown, with resolve...and triumph. ♪ there's strength in every family story. learn more about yours. at ancestry. there's strength in every family story. if you're 55 and up, t-mobile has plans built just for you. get 2 unlimited lines for only $70. and now get netflix on us with your plan. and this rate is fixed, you'll pay exactly $70 total. this month and every month. plus, switch today and get a free smartphone for each line. the best value and award-winning customer service. only at t-mobile. battle lines are being drawn voting rights in georgia and voting rights groups are now calling on major corporations to speak up and they're doing this in a very public way. billboards are now popping up in atlanta urging georgia based corporations like coca-cola, home depot, and delta and more to oppose the republican led state efforts to make it harder to vote there. protesters also staged a dine in as part of this campaign and pressure campaign. all the while, republicans in the state legislature are full steam ahead pushing measures that would repeal no absentee voting and further limit options including essentially eliminating early voting on sundays which is quite popular. joining me now is the person helping to lead this public pressure campaign, executive director of the new georgia project. thank you for coming on. why is -- i'm looking at the billboards and wondering to why is the support from companies like these important? >> because the killing these anti-voting bills and the georgia legislature is an urgent matter and it's of the most importance. and i can't think of more powerful actors, more influential lobbyists inside the georgia legislature than these major corporations that call georgia home. because they have traded on the legacy of civil rights and voting rights organizing that made atlanta this country what it is. and so their silence in this moment is unacceptable because many of them have spent significant sums of money on get out the vote campaign targeted at young black georgians, young black americans, encouraging their participation in our elections in this moment. and, again, the hypocrisy is astounding. if you want us to vote, then when the right to vote is being attacked on the freedom to vote is being attacked, you cannot sit back and be silenced. >> the companies have put out some statements. broadly speaking saying that they all support voting rights. and take coca-cola, for example. in a statement given to cnn. coca-cola said voting is a foundational right in the united states and that company will continue to work to advance voting rights and access also saying they support the chamber of commerce and the efforts to help facilitate a balanced approach to the election bills that have been introduced in the georgia legislature this session. i hear from you that is clearly not enough. why is it not enough? >> well, a balanced approach -- one, acknowledging voting as a foundational or a fundamental right according to the supreme court means that those are rights that are deserving of heightened level of protection particularly from government interference. so we're looking at nearly 300 anti-voting bills from state legislatures and over 40 states that this is an attack on voting. so this is an attack on a foundational right. then we need to be very concerned about this coordinated well fund add ed attack in this moment. number two, what exactly do you mean by a balanced approach to these anti-voting bills? there is one side that is continuing to perpetuate the big lie, that there was widespread voter fraud in georgia and in other states in 2020. and then there is one side that is saying we want to continue to build upon the success of the 2020 election cycle when millions more of americans showed up and participated in our elections free from intimidation and chose their leaders. and that they were able to survive multiple recounts so that people were assured that our election results had integrity. i don't understand the attempt to equivocate what we are saying with what these lying liars who lie are saying about voter fraud that did not exist. >> i'll say one thing. the chamber put out a statement saying that they oppose the provisions but you definitely do not hear even close to using the word oppose or opposition or anything even approaching that in the statements that you see from the companies. that is absolutely clear. because, i mean, saying you support a -- that voting is a foundational right is about as captain obvious as it gets. i'm curious just to get your take, stacy abrams was on with jake tapper and she said when you look at these bills they're racist and redufx of jim crow i a suit and tie. >> i say it is jim crow with a q. and the idea is that this massive disinformation campaign that many people think that we were done with that led to people dying, capitol police officers dying that, led to 147 republican members trying to invalidate the electoral college count, that our power in these 300 anti-voting bills across the country that it's jim crow 2.0. stacy abrams is absolutely right. jim crow with a q. >> i'm very interested to see as the pressure campaign continues, people see the billboards more and more what these companies have to say. the statements are going to be hopefully not the last thing you'll hear from them. thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up for us, there is new reporting ahead about security requests ahead of the capitol riot and whether the pentagon was initially against providing support. ♪ and a little bit of chicken fried ♪ ♪ cold beer on a friday night ♪ ♪ a pair of jeans that fit just right ♪ ♪ and the radio up ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. look, this isn't my first rodeo and let me tell you something, i wouldn't be here if i thought reverse mortgages took advantage of any american senior, or worse, that it was some way to take your home. it's just a loan designed for older homeowners, and, it's helped over a million americans. a reverse mortgage loan isn't some kind of trick to take your home. it's a loan, like any other. big difference is how you pay it back. find out how reverse mortgages really work with aag's free, no-obligation reverse mortgage guide. eliminate monthly mortgage payments, pay bills, medical costs, and more. call now and get your free info kit. other mortgages are paid each month, but with a reverse mortgage, you can pay whatever you can, when it works for you, or, you can wait, and pay it off in one lump sum when you leave your home. discover the option that's best for you. call today and find out more in aag's free, no-obligation reverse mortgage loan guide. access tax-free cash and stay in the home you love. you've probably been investing in your home for years... making monthly mortgage payments... doing the right thing... and it's become your family's heart and soul... well, that investment can give you tax-free cash just when you need it. learn how homeowners are strategically using a reverse mortgage loan to cover expenses, pay for healthcare, preserve your portfolio, and so much more. look, reverse mortgages aren't for everyone but i think i've been 'round long enough to know what's what. i'm proud to be part of aag, i trust 'em, i think you can too. trust aag for the best reverse mortgage solutions. call now so you can... retire better like, seeing my mom. it's unthinkable to me that i can't see her and i can't hug her. not being able to hug is just like somebody has to tie me down. touching someone to say i love you, to hug you... those are the things that i miss. ♪♪ ♪♪ this is a no-nonsense message from three. small business insurance is usually so complicated, you need to be a lawyer to understand it. that's why three was created. it's a better kind of business insurance. it's only three pages. straightforward. if you own it, three covers it. got a cheese slice for "spokesperson?" that's me. i don't even need to see what's happening behind me to know it's covered. (screaming) this commercial is now over. logo. three. no nonsense. just common sense. "the washington post" has new reporting. the pentagon was reluctant to send national guard troops to d.c. ahead the insurrection at the capitol. according to the post, the army initially pushed to deny d.c.'s request for guard assistance. let me bring in whitney wild. she's been following this closely. whitney, what more are you learning about this new reporting coming in? >> according to "the washington post," the army was initially reluctant to send in national guard troops to assist law enforcement for traffic and for crowd control and they said that was only warranted if there was a crowd of around 100,000 or more people at this rally which we know is many, many more than what was initially expected that day even though the crowd size was very, very big. the army was reluctant for a number of reasons much they said there wasn't a federal agency in control of the preparations ahead of time. or the on the ground operations. they were also concerned that the resources of federal agencies hadn't been exhausted. finally, the army's perspective was they're not first responders. they're the military. they're not the cops. so they very much wanted to be a last resort here. however, "the washington post" also points out that national guard assistance for crowd control, for traffic, assisting law enforcement for large scale protests has something that's been happening for decades around here. so it seemed in that way incon grew ent with past practice in d.c. so this is a statement which i think we have a full screen pulling up here. we do. so this is a spokeswoman for the army saying clearly the mayor's request was approved and supported. the draft memo was not signed or approved. it is customary for the arm why i staff to provide options for army senior leaders to inform their decision making process." the decision making process here has been somewhat of an enigma, kate, because we haven't heard from any of the higher ups at the pentagon who were in this line of decision making so this is just a small window into what the thinking was leading up to january 6th. >> and why there are so many questions for them to answer, the decision making leading up and on january 6th. whitney, thank you very much. ten years later syrians are still enduring the horrors of war. it in that country became a brutal crackdown in a decade now of fighting with no end in stiegt, leaving an entire generation of children who know nothing but trauma and war. cnn's -- spoke to some of the war's young e victims, joining me now from syria. what are you hearing from syrians, ten years on? >> kate, it's almost impossible for many of them to actually put into words what it is that they've went through and let know just tell you the story of one little boy we spoke to, his name is -- we're not talking about one trauma. when this little boy was 5 years old his baby brother was killed. when he was 6 years old his father was killed in a strike when we went to the market to go buy vegetables. when sultan was 8 he was burnt in a strike. he is one of the sweetest boys i have ever met. he has this brilliant smile, these eyes that sparkle like a 10-year-old's should. he's as old as the war itself but then they darken, kate, as he thinks about everything he's gone through. he still has nightmares, wakes up screaming he's on fire, begging his mother to put out the flames. he is not a unique story. he's not a unique case. so many children that we have been talking to share similar experiences, many people will tell you that every week, every month is the anniversary of the death of someone they loved. what is especially painful for so many syrians is that in all of this, kate, they've had a voice. it's just that it hasn't mattered. it hasn't mattered how many dead bodies were pulled out of the rubble. it hasn't mattered how many of them were displaced, or detained or disappeared. what syrians have learned right now, a decade on, is that when bigger, geopolitical games are at play the lives of the innocent don't matter. >> yeah, there's the thing. conventional wisdom. it doesn't matter if it's messy or tough. we can't turn away when you see this pain, the trauma in the beautiful faces of the children you're meeting there. thank you for being there. coming up for us, once an epicenter of covid cases and deaths, los angeles is now taking the first steps towards normal. ♪ (singing in korean) ♪ ♪ like an arrow in the blue sky ♪ ♪ (singing in korean) ♪ ♪ on my pillow, on my table ♪ ♪ yeah life goes on ♪ ♪ like this again ♪ ♪ oh oh oh oh ♪ we look up to our heroes. idolizing them. mimicking their every move. and if she counts on the advanced hydration of pedialyte when it matters most... so do we. hydrate like our heroes. ♪ shaq? remember when you were telling us to check out the general for car insurance, so we left you deep in the woods? turns out you were right about the general. they're actually a quality insurance company. let's get out of here. five more minutes, my skunk is almost done. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years i'm a verizon engineer. we built our 5g nationwide so millions of people could do what they love in verizon 5g quality. and in parts of many cities, we have ultra wideband, the fastest 5g in the world. this is 5g built right. only from verizon. a big moment for los angeles county, the nation's most populous county and for quite some time a coronavirus epicenter. many businesses are reopening for the first time in nearly a year. intercept's stephanie elam is joining us, what are you hearing and seeing from folks at this moment? >> reporter: it was exactly a year agent today i went live from a restaurant when everything started to shut down. for basically a year these businesses have not had people inside. but this opening up you see people are very happy. this is jocelyn. why did you want to eat inside today? >> it's very cold outside. but like it's been a year now since like the pandemic. and i don't know, it's nice to sit down with friends and enjoy eating inside. every now and then. >> reporter: so that's one perspective that we keep hearing, that people miss this and how cold it is here at the waffle in hollywood, people are happy to come out. it's early on people are here. i'm going to get a quick sound from drew here. you're the general manager here, what's been the hardest part about being closed this long? >> oh, boy, just not having enough hours for staff. we're so happy to be open again and be able to support enough work for the people who have hung in there through this difficult period. >> for sure. and speaking with drew and other restaurants i know some restaurants are not ready to reopen because they need to retrain their staff to do this. right now restaurants can open up, museums as well as movie theaters by 25% capacity. if you have a gym o, or a yoga studio, 10%. businesses have to figure out if it's worth it for them to open up. we saw los angeles county and we saw the numbers spike as we did. i took a look at the latest data from l.a. county and california, the test positivity rate is under 2% for both of those jurisdictions. so shows you things are starting to look up, look better and people are happy to see some signs of normalcy here, even if that means you're still wearing your masks inside and sitting far apart, kate. >> the new normal, take whatever we can get. thank you, stephanie. a programming note for all of you, cnn's jake tapper is speaking with california's governor gavin newsom live on "the lead" today at healthcare p.m. thank you for joining us, i'm kate bolduan. john king picks up from here. hello, everybody, welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm john king in washington. thank you for sharing your day with us. president biden hits the road today to promote his covid relief package. chester, pennsylvania is the president's destination, a small majority black city south of philadelphia, vice president harris part of the administration road show, denver, colorado is her stop today. the white house message is that help is on the way for every aspect of the covid fight. stimulus checks in the mail, or by direct deposit. new tax credits fo