another sobering record set overnight, more than 3,700 american lives lost to coronavirus the second day in a row. we've said that's the same scale as 9/11 each day, which is really hard to wrap your mind around. here's a sense of what's ahead. this chart of cases looks bad. looks terrible. that was the spring. zoom out for a chilling view of the virus's escalation, bad now, and getting worse as we head into the colder indoor months. the u.s. toll far outpacing other countries, the cdc now projects up to 434,000 deaths in this country by january 23rd. that's 4,000 americans every single day. the vaccine rollout still behind expectations. officials now admit it has been too slow. medical experts are concerned about longer term strategy now. >> it's over promising in the first place. it's also not having a national strategy but instead throwing up our hands and basically saying now the federal government has done their job, it's just with the production and initially distribution with the states, ramping up is going to be challenging because the infrastructure needed to be built month ago. >> reporter: some states giving the elderly priority for vaccination. florida leaving distribution to each community. that has led to a scramble for a limited number of doses. the result, hours long lines at vaccination sites for the elderly, and overwhelmed county hot lines and web sites. that's elderly people waiting hours for a live saving vaccination. the u.s. lags behind other countries in its vaccination efforts. ohio governor says more than half of nursing home workers are declining to be vaccinated. governors in both parties wish they are receiving more vaccine faster. >> we can't control how fast the vaccine comes into the state of ohio, and we know that there's a scarcity. >> i'm personally disappointed. maybe my expectations were too high that the vaccine would have been rolled out faster in a much more efficient manner than it has been. >> that more contagious british variant has been confirmed in san diego, california, a state has seen the virus spread rampantly the last few weeks. the state of texas has only distributed a third of the vaccine doses it has received so far. flights at dallas fort worth airport was grounded wednesday with ripple effects across the country, and air traffic control center was closed for cleaning after personnel there tested positive. president trump paying close attention to his golf game. while largely ignoring the worsening pandemic that has killed more americans on his watch than world war ii and vietnam combined. he's all in on the fruitless attempts to stay in the white house. the president is returning to washington, skipping his own new year's eve bash at mar-a-lago. he's cheer leading republicans planning to disrupt the congressional certification of joe biden's election win. not everyone in the gop is on board. senator ben sasse saying when we talk in private, i haven't heard a single congressional republican allege that the election results were fraudulent, not one. but one senator has put himself front and center in the effort to overturn the will of the people, cnn's phil mattingly is on capitol hill. >> reporter: it's been apparent for weeks that several house republicans who are close allies of president trump are going to vote to object to certain slates of electors as they counted president-elect joe biden's victory in the united states congress. however, the key missing element of that was they needed to pair up with a u.s. senator for anything substantiative to occur. now they have that u.s. senator, senator josh hawley, republican from missouri says he will join in the objections, at least one objection, possibly more objections, and he cited specifically the state of pennsylvania. his rationale being that he believes certain state rules were changed late in the game. those changes, well, they were made because of the pandemic, and it wasn't just in states that joe biden won. there are states that donald trump won as well. he raised concerns about how tech companies treated joe biden and the biden campaign as well. he says he's willing to object because he wants to raise the issues to the public consciousness. what does it mean if a member of the house and senate object, it means both chambers will have to split, recess, have a two-hour debate and vote. those votes are not going to change anything in the outcome. it's not going to change a specific slate of electors. democrats control the house and even though republicans control the u.s. senate, and most of the republicans have made clear they know that joe biden is the president-elect of the united states, it will make the process a little bit longer. it will also upset or at least ruffle the feathers of hawley's republican leader, and that's mitch mcconnell. who made very clear earlier in the month he did not want republicans joining with house republicans in those objections, making clear it was a losing battle and also one that would put several members in a precarious position of having to choose, to vote for something donald trump has made clear he wants, or vote with reality which is that joe biden won the election. now that's almost certainly going to happen. josh hawley making that clear. the big question, how many state wills he and house republicans object to. and will any other republican senators join him. it seems like the answer is yes. we'll have to wait and see. >> phil, thank you so much for that. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell killing the chance for $22,000 stimulus checks. there's a growing push after president trump decided to demand the payments. he even found unlikely allies. >> we have a very unlikely ally in president trump. nobody here has disagreed with mr. trump more times than i have, yet here is what the leader of the republican party says, he says $2,000 asap. so even on this issue, amazingly enough, the president of the united states is right. >> let's talk about covid-19 relief. >> mitch mcconnell remains unmoved, and less liability protection for big tech. >> we the senate is not going to split apart the three issues that president trump linked together just because democrats are afraid to address two of them. the senate's not going to be bullied into rushing out more into the hands of democrat rich friends who don't need the help. >> senate minority leader schumer asking this question, $2,000 checks to americans in a pandemic, is this where senate republicans are going to draw the line? there's concerning new intelligence about a threat to u.s. troops overseas. mercenaries offered money to attack american service members in afghanistan. this time, the offer came from china. international security editor nick paton walsh has reported extensively from afghanistan, and he joins us now from london with this story. nick, what can you tell us this morning? >> reporter: well, it is something of a confusing tale here. i think the best thing is to give the context of the plot we heard about earlier on this year, under which russian intelligence agents were accused by u.s. and european intelligence officials of paying money to the taliban to attack american forces and that seems to have resulted in some casualties. what we're hearing now, though, from a senior administration official talking to my colleagues in d.c. is the suggestion, in fact, that the chinese paid what was referred to as non-state actors to launch similar attacks too. now, this doesn't at this point seem to have been information that's been corroborated as far as these officials say, and it's not clear quite exactly resulted as a consequence of this plot. i should point out that china says through its foreign ministry, this is complete nonsense and denies it entirely. it appears to have been serious enough that it made the presidential daily briefing on december the 17th, and then president donald trump discussed with his national security adviser robert o'brien, so it isn't really clear exactly what we're dealing with, whether this is an unprecedented bid by china to get involved in a similar plot that could potentially jeopardize or result in the death of american forces in afghanistan. that would be a satark escalatin on china's behalf, if we're dealing with muddying intelligence and the trump administration has yet to publicly, i should say donald trump, has yet to publicly call out russia for this alleged plot for americans in afghanistan. and we heard earlier on this year, they're adding china to that mix, possibly muddies the water there. but still, very stark allegations here from a senior administration official talking to my colleagues in washington. and clearly an escalation, potentially by china here, one that they staunchly deny, and something that the presidential administration in the u.s. says it will declassify in the days ahead. so more to come on this. >> nick paton walsh in london. thank you. all eyes on iran this morning, as well as senior u.s. defense official telling cnn the threat level is the most concerning since the u.s. assassination of a top iranian general a year ago. the pentagon is divided over the specific risk from the regime. cnn's arwa damon joins us live with more. good morning, arwa. >> reporter: good morning, christine. a lot of mixed messages coming out from this administration. and a lot of confusing statements about the intelligence that the u.s. does have when it comes to the current threat level being posed by iran. you have as you mentioned there some senior officials saying that this is the most concerning, the highest threat level since the killing of qassem soleimani about a year ago. you have others who are saying that despite the fact that there are some claims that iran is moving short range missiles into iraq, that there is no real concrete evidence to back these claims, that there is no real intelligence that is corroborating statements that an attack from iran is waactually imminent. the u.s. itself is also sending out very mixed messages to iran, and to the region on wednesday flying b 52 it bombers over the middle east in an attempt to flex its military muscle, and send a warning to iran. but at the same time, acting secretary of defense christopher miller decided against a push to extend the deployment of one of the u.s. aircraft carriers in the region, withdrawing it instead in an apparent signal of deescalation to iran. but suffice it to say, that despite this conflicting intelligence, despite these mixed messages, this is very much a region that is on edge, not entirely sure what trump may end up doing in his final days in office. >> arwa damon in istanbul. thank you very much for that. 12 minutes past the hour, how do you rebuild a jobs market that went from record highs to record lows because of the pandemic. what's in store for 2021, next. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and 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shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free. that's why the new myww+ is our most holistic weight loss program ever. the app helps you take the foods you have and gives you creative ideas for meals. you can choose any workout you want to fit within your time frame. there are a ton of zero point foods that i love. i never feel restricted. the new tools boost my mood and help keep me hydrated. more holistic. more personalized. more weight loss. the new program from ww, weight watchers reimagined. lose weight on us this winter! get three months free! ends january fourth! the coronavirus wiped out a decade of job gains. president-elect joe biden inheriting a huge problem from president trump, america's job recovery is stuck in a rut. the unemployment rate catapulted from a near 50-year low to the highest level on record in just two months. it inched down to 6.7% in november, but that decrease came as more workers left the labor force for good. over the summer, the jobs recovery looked decent. the economy is still down 9.8 million jobs. you can see there that the recovery has stalled. economists estimated 100,000 jobs were added in december, but the unemployment rate will rise to 6.8%, the first increase since april. the biggest potential source of helped, a widespread vaccination programs is months away. eventually the vaccine will help provide jobs and sectors with face-to-face contact, like travel and hospitality, until then, lower income jobs are the most at risk as states once again prepare for a surge in cases. economists say tighter restrictions will mean more unemployment over the winter. the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine bringing much needed hope to the u.k. 3/4 of england is now under tier 4 lock down, heading into 2021. most europeans still face the same restrictions and health concerns they have for months. cnn's matthew chance in london with more. and there are warnings this morning, hey, no new year's eve parties and gatherings. this is a critical situation in the u.k. >> yeah, very dangerous situation indeed. according to officials that have been talking about this, not just the restrictions they have been facing for the past couple of months, they're ratcheting them up over the course of the past 24 hours. that's going to continue for days, weeks, who knows how long in the future, 50,000, just over new infections of covid-19 in the past 24 hours, about a thousand deaths, that's the most there have been since the height of the pandemic back in april. and so government officials here saying they're being left with no choice but to impose severe lock down restrictions. tier 4 lock down as they call it here. on 2/3 of the population, significantly more than that, in fact, and so warnings being given by health officials not to party this new year's eve, covid likes crowds is the message they're trying to put out there, urging people, warning people to stay at home, and not have parties. this would be the norm, of course, at this time of year. it's not all bad news, though. there is a glimmer of hope, as 2020 finally comes to an end. the astrazeneca, oxford university vaccine has been approved for use in britain, along with the other vaccines approved for use here. it has some advantages in the sense it's more easily stored. it doesn't have to go down to, you know, kind of industrial depths of temperature. it can be stored in a normal refrigerator, and it can be more easily distributed. the hope is from government officials that that vaccination program is going to be bolstered and increased in the days and weeks to come, and hopefully, they say, there will be an end to this pandemic as early as the string. >> hopefully, matthew chance in london. thank you. britain's post brexit law goes into effect about 12 hours from now. the final count down is on for the u.k. and eu to go their separate ways. what does that mean for britain, and european nations. cnn's salma abdelaziz, live with more. good morning. >> good morning, kristen, brexit is done. the war over brexit is finally over. the peace treaty is signed if you will. brexit is never really over, is it. now it goes into action. now it's no longer the theoretical idea. prime minister boris johnson said the country has gained back itssoever republicanty. f -- sovereignty. you no longer have freedom of movement. you can no longer pick up is move to italy or study in spain. all of that gone. what's in the deal, it's a sear row tariffs. zero quota deal. in some ways, the u.k. is spared the worst o. economic despair of leaving the single market and the customs unit, and some of the major sticking points have been solved. i think everyone will tell you, no tariffs, no quota, there will be more friction, more bureaucracy, more red tape, more restrictions for businesses to get through, and ultimately the test of this deal will be the economy, will be how the average british person does under this deal. british prime minister boris johnson will tell you you will do better. a lot of criticism that essentially this is happening at a time that could not be worse for this country. it's facing a recession, the worst it's seen in 300 years, it's facing a job crisis and a pandemic to put more uncertainty at a time like this, that could be disastrous. >> it could. thank you so much for following that for us. long overdue, a woman is a head coach in the nba game, the bleacher report is next. new year celebrations around the world are still taking place but will look very different. in times square, the celebrations see police presence reduced 80%, telling potential visitors don't come. cities like las vegas, sydney, and edinboro scotland are opting for smaller fireworks celebrations or virtual displays instead of the traditional show stopping events. fireworks in places like los angeles, london, madrid, rio de janeiro are cancelled entirely. a historic night in the nba as becky hammon becomes the first woman to lead a team during the regular season. carolyn manno has the bleacher report. >> becky hammon is blazing a trail, the first full-time female assistant coach in league history. this was in her words a significant moment, a really big deal. not exactly how she drew it up. she didn't walk into the arena thinking she would be given the role, but after spurs head coach gregg popovich was ejected in the second quarter he gave the keys to hammon who has been a coach in the organization since 2014. hammon said at the time she was trying to focus on getting the win. she reflected on the gravity of the night afterwards. >> i try not to think about the huge picture and the huge aspect of it because it can get overwhelming. it's my job to go in there and be focused for those guys, and make sure i'm helping them do the things that will help us win. i really have not had time to reflect. i haven't looked at my phone. i have no idea what's going on outside of at a&t center. >> meantime, the buffalo bills will welcome back fans when they host their first home playoff game in 25 years. new york good morning andrew cuomo announcing 6,700 spectators allowed inside bills stadium. all fans will be tested for covid-19 before the game, and anybody with a positive test will not be allowed to attend. this will be a pilot program of sorts to test ways that the state can reopen businesses and hold events safely. second ranked clemson is in new orleans ahead of tomorrow's sugar bowl game against number 3, ohio state. they are without an important member of this team. offensive coordinator and play caller, tony elliot is going to miss the college football semifinal after reportedly testing positive for covid-19. if clemson does win, elliot might be able to come back for the national championship game. that is on january 11th. the wisconsin badgers beat wake forest in the duke's mayo bowl in charlotte yesterday. they just won't have any hardware to show for it when they return for campus because while dancing in the locker room, the quarterback fumbled the lennox crystal, it fell on the floor. shattered. a little tape, a little squeezable bottle of duke's mayo. good as new. i wonder if anybody is going to notice it looks a little different. it's a 2020 trophy if i have ever seen one. >> you're absolutely right. that says it all. carolyn manno, thank you so much. welcome 2021 with anderson cooper and andy cohen, new year's eve live from mostly empty times squauare. it's going to be so much fun, though, tonight starting at 8 eastern on cnn. nothing? 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dot com good morning, this is "early start." i'm christine romans. it is 30 minutes past the hour on the last day of the year. at the end of a challenging year, it is clear that some of the hardships that marred 2020 will linger well into 2021. another sobering record set overnight, more than 3,700 lives lost to coronavirus for the second day in a row. here's a sense of what's ahead, this chart of cases looks bad, terrible. but that was the spring. zoom out for a chilling view of the virus's escalation. bad now and getting worse as we head into the colder indoor months. the more contagious british covid variant has now been confirmed in san diego, california. a state that has seen the virus spread rampantly the last few weeks. >> because there is no travel history, we believe this is not an isolated case in san diego county. and there are probably other strains, other cases of the same strain in san diego county. >> the u.s. death toll far out pacing other countries. the cdc projects 434,000 deaths by january 23rd. that's 4,000 americans per day. the vaccine rollout still far below expectations. officials now admit it has been too slow. medical experts are concerned about longer term strategy. >> it's over promising in the first place. it's also not having a national study but instead throwing up our hands and basically saying now the frovederal government h done their job and ramping up from now is going to be very challenging because the infrastructure actually needed to be built month ago. >> some states giving the elderly priority for vaccination. florida's plan leaving distribution to each county and that has created a scramble for a limited number of doses. the result, hours long lines at vaccination sites and overwhelmed countied hot lines and web sites. a cnn analysis finds the u.s. lags behind other countries in its vaccination efforts. ohio governor mike dewine says more than half of nursing home workers are declining to get vaccinated. governors in both parties wish their states were receiving more vaccine and faster. >> we can't control how fast the vaccine comes into the state of ohio. and we know that there's a scarcity. >> personally disappointed that maybe my expectations were too high that the vaccine would have been rolled out faster in a much more efficient manner than it has been. >> president trump paying close attention to his golf game while largely ignoring the worsening pandemic that has killed more americans on his watch than world war ii and vietnam combined. but he's all in on the many fruitless attempts to stay in the white house. the president is returning to washington today. he's skipping his own new year's eve bash at mar-a-lago, cheer leading republicans that plan to disrupt the congressional certification of joe biden's election win. not everyone in the gop is on board. senator ben sasse saying this, when we talk in private, i haven't heard a single republican allege the election results were fraudulent, but one senator has put himself front and center in the effort to overturn the will of the people. cnn's phil mattingly is on capitol hill. >> reporter: it's been apparent for weeks that several house republicans who are very close allies of president trump were going to vote to object to certain slates of electors as they counted president-elect joe biden's victory in the united states congress. however, the key missing element of that was they needed to pair up with a u.s. senator for anything substantiative to actually occur. now they have that u.s. senator. senator josh hawley, republican from missouri says he will join in the objections, at least one objection, possibly more objections, and he cited specifically the state of pennsylvania. his rationale being that he believes certain state rules were made later in the game. the changes were made because of the pandemicme. he also raised concerns about how tech companies treated joe biden and the biden campaign as well. he said he's willing to object because he wants to raise those issues to the public consciousness. now, what does it actually mean if both the member of the house and senate objects, it means that both chambers will have to split, recess, have a two-hour debate. those votes are not going to change anything in the outcome. it's not going to change a slate of electors. keep in mind, democrats control the house, and even though republicans control the u.s. senate, and most of the republicans have made clear they know that joe biden is the president-elect of the united states. it will make the process a little bit longer. it will also upset or at least ruffle the feathers of hawley's republican leader, and that's mitch mcconnell. he made very clear earlier in the month he did not want republicans joining with house republicans in those objections making clear it was a losing battle and also one that would put several of his members in a precarious position to choose, to vote with what donald trump wants or reality, joe biden won the election. that's going to happen. josh hawley making that clear. the big question is how many states will he and house republicans object to, and will any other republican senators join us. right now, it seems like the answer is likely yes. we'll have to wait and see. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell all but killing the chance for $2,000 stimulus checks for american families. there's been a growing push after president trump finally decided to demand those payments. he even found unlikely allies. >> we have a very unlikely ally in president trump. nobody here has disagreed with trump more times than i have, and yet, here is what the leader of the republican party says, he says $2,000 asap. so even on this issue, amazingly enough, the president of the united states is right. >> senator mcconnell remains unmoved blaming it on democrats who won't agree to link those checks to the president's demands for an election fraud probe, and less liability protection for big tech. >> the senate is not going to split apart the three issues that president trump linked together just because democrats are afraid to address two of them. the senate is not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of democrat rich friends who don't need the help. >> senate minority leader chuck schumer fuming asking the question after all the insanity that senate republicans have tolerated from president trump, $2,000 checks to americans in a pandemic is this. where senate republicans are going to draw the line. there's concerning new intelligence about a threat to u.s. troops overseas. mercenaries offering money to attack american service members in afghanistan. you might have heard of this before, but this time, the offer came from china. international security editor nick paton walsh has reported extensively from afghanistan. he joins us from london. nick, what do we know about this threat. >> wind back a little bit for the first time we heard this kind of plot, which were suggestions from u.s. and european intelligence officials. they had evidence that russian military intelligence, the gru were paying the taliban to attack american forces in afghanistan. in a period of years, and on some occasions that had in fact resulted in casualties. the russians dismissed that at the time. what we're hearing now, though, is from one senior administration official talking to my colleagues in washington saying that on december the 17th, president donald trump was briefed in his presidential daily briefing that the chinese had paid what they referred to in that briefing as nonstate actors, also to attack americans in aversiofghanistan. it's not clear precisely who they made, if the payments were made and if they resulted in casualties. the information is referred to as uncorroborated and at the same time, the chinese foreign ministry has hit back quickly on thursday saying allegations were nonsense, denying any part in it at all, but also said by the same senior administration officials that the intelligence will be declassified in the weeks or days ahead. if this were the case, it would mark an extraordinary escalation by china against the united states, so interesting departure here, certainly for the trump administration, the president has yet to publicly call out russia frr russia, from what his officials said were their plot against americans in afghanistan, and now muddying the waters will be this information potentially about a similar chinese plot. deeply troubling, i'm sure, for those still on the ground in aversion. it's important not to talk about it as an abstract concept. there is extreme violence raging in afghanistan. a lot of that fomented because the u.s. is leaving. down to 2,500 troops by the middle of january, and it's unclear quite what president-elect joe biden wants to do next but continually hanging over the american presence are the plots, now the chinese implicated, what i should say incorroborated information at this point. >> nick paton walsh in london, you're right, what is clear is a challenge for the incoming administration. no question. all eyes are on iran. also this morning, a senior u.s. defense official telling cnn the threat level is the most concerning since the u.s. assassination of a top iranian general nearly a year ago. the pentagon divided over the specific risk from the regime and from the militias it supports in that region. let's go to cnn's arwa damon. she joins us live with more. mixed on what the risks are and the threats are, but deeply concerned about them. >>. >> reporter: most certainly. because even though there are all sorts of mixed messages, all sorts of confusing reports as to what the intelligence actually indicates, just this uncertainty is something that is greatly concerning for the region. you do have some senior officials who are saying, as you mentioned there, that the risk being posed by iran against u.s. interests in the region, especially in iraq, is at the highest level that it has been since the killing of qassem soleimani saying that they have new intelligence that seems to indicate that iran has been moving short range ballistic missiles into iraq. at the same time, you have other senior officials who are saying that there is no actual concrete intelligence to corroborate these claims of a heightened threat and then you have the messages that are coming out from the u.s. administration and its military maneuvers. the u.s. flew nuclear capable b 52 bombers over the middle east in a military muscle flexing show of force, seeming to send a clear message to iran, but at the same time, the acting secretary of defense, christopher miller, decided against a push to extend the deployment of one of the u.s. aircraft carriers in the region instead pulling it out, and that seems to be giving a signal of deescalation to iran. but we will all also remember that it was but ten days ago where there was a number of rockets that were fired at the green zone in baghdad, a couple of them landing inside the u.s. embassy grounds, no casualties caused there. just some physical damage, but that then prompted a new days later, president trump to call a meeting with senior military efficien officials to discuss the threat by iran. he himself warning iran that if one american were to be killed, he would be holding iran responsible. suffice it to say, great concern over what president trump may do in his last days in office. >> arwa damon in istanbul, thank you very much for that. senior agents that previously guarded joe biden and his family, the new moves come after allies of the president-elect expressed concern that some current agents are politically aligned with president trump, including some who reportedly urged other agents not to wear masks on presidential trips this year. on friday, tomorrow, many low wage workers across the country, you're going to get a pay raise. 20 states raising their minimum wages. some by just pennies, others by a dollar or more. in new mexico, for example, the minimum wage will rise $1.50. the gain is just $0.08 in minnesota. the federal minimum wage of 7.25 hasn't budged since 1999. some states will have to wait. in michigan state law prohibits scheduled minimum wage when the annual unemployment rate is above 8 1/2%. though the jobless rate has improved, it averaged 10.2% from january through october. for the 20 states that will raise their minimum wages, one economist at the economic policy institute says redistributing money toward the lowest wage workers is the smart policy because they are the workers who will spend it.t. that will ultimately help the e economy. we'll be right back. when we started our business we were paying an arm and a leg for postage. i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. i was printing out labels and saving money. shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamless. pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. our costs for shipping were cut in half. just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers. go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free. these days, georgia is on everyone's mind, it's the home stretch of course for two senate runoffs that will decide the balance of power in the divided chamber. president trump says he wants the gop to win, but you know, his own actions are putting georgia republicans on defense. cnn's kyung lah is on the ground for us in atlanta. >> reporter: well, christine, with the window closing on early voting here for the georgia senate runoffs, president trump is still causing some headaches for gop leadership in the state of georgia. the president called on the governor of this state, a republican, to step down. president trump still angry about losing the state of georgia to joe biden. so he wants the governor to resign. the governor, then, called reporters to the state capitol to respond on camera, and the governor spoke to republicans in the state, saying, look, ignore the tweets, and he called them quote a distraction. >> i've supported the president, i've said that many times. i work as hard as anybody in the state on his reelection up through november the 3rd. i've supported the legal process that him or any other campaign can go through in this state. but at the end of the day, i also have to follow the laws and the constitution. >> reporter: president trump is scheduled to be in the state of georgia on monday. the day before the election to rally republicans. also scheduled to be in the state, president-elect joe biden doing that on the democratic side. but it was another president, president barack obama who delivered the closing message for the democrats. >> now america is counting on you again. you can send jon ossoff to the senate to beat this virus and rebuild our economy, to make sure everybody can afford health care, and to carry the torch john lewis passed to us when the new voting rights act that secures equal justice for all. >> reporter: so president obama delivering that tent pole message that the democrats have been saying here of health care, economy, and justice as the closing message. the question, though, christine, is if people are going to hear it with more than $500 million in ads being spent here in the state of georgia. christine? >> kyung lah, thank you so much for that. to nashville now where the mayor says the city must take a look at what law enforcement could have done better to prevent a bombing on christmas day. the bomber's girlfriend told police in august 2019 he was making bombs in his rv. cnn has learned police tried several times unsuccessfully to get warner to open the door. nashville police are defending their response. >> you have to have probable cause that a crime is being committed or about to be committed. right then, there was nothing other than a statement from someone. officers didn't take this lightly. they went back, they knocked on the door. they rent several times. they followed up with hazardous devices team unit. i believe the officers did everything they could legally. maybe we could have followed up more, hindsight is 2020. >> the police chief says warner's lawyer wouldn't allow a search of warner's home. that attorney denies preventing police from searching the property. coronavirus is not the only reason to stay home for new year's eve. the weather will be ugly for much of the country. meteorologist derek van dam has the forecast. >> good morning, christine. in classic 2020 fashion, the year is ending with multiple weather hazards across the country from a severe weather threat across the gulf coast states to a full fledged winter storm throughout the mid mississippi river valley as well as the southern plains. this storm system is large. it's very complex, and in fact, it extends along the east coast where some lingering precipitation this morning will gradually come to an end. i think we'll have a dry new year's eve forecast for new york city. then we focus on what's brewing across the gulf coast states because there's a lot of moisture involved with the system, and the severe weather threat is enhanced today, especially across some of those hardest hit areas from the atlantic hurricane season throughout central louisiana. we have over 10 million americans under some sort of winter weather advisory. you can see the precipitation accumulating over the next 48 hours. some he felty snowfall totals, even the potential for up to a half inch of ice in some locations, including missouri. here's a look at your new year's eve forecast for new york city. looks to stay dry with temperatures around 40 degrees. back to you. >> derek thank you so much for that. let's check on markets around the world. markets in tokyo were closed for the holiday. on wall street for the last trading day of the year. looks like a very mixed performance right now, despite a rise in coronavirus cases, stocks closed higher wednesday. stocks have soared in the middle of a pandemic. the s&p is up 15 1/2% this year. the nasdaq up an unbelievable 43%. meanwhile, weekly unemployment claims are still stubbornly high. this morning's jobless claims report is expected to show another 833,000 americans filed for the first time for unemployment benefits last week. that split screen continues of investors really doing well this year, but the real economy still in trouble. you probably listened to a lot of podcasts this year, amazon betting you'll keep it up. amazon will buy start up wondery. it owns a big chunk of the smart speaker market with the echo. podcasts, therefore, a natural fit here. the deal is the latest in an audio acquisition frenzy. spotify, i heart median, siriusxm and apple have hundreds of millions of dollars in podcasts this year, recognition that the world is changing and how we consume music and how the world is changing because of the coronavirus. we have a tradition everybody here on "early start," the last day of the year, we take a moment, recognize the hard work of our talented team. we're like a family, and this year it feels especially important. our team stayed focused working overnight hours at home, juggling home school. a lot of us are parents, it's been a difficult year and together we are really proud to deliver you the news every day, every morning you need. we are so happy to be here, and that is because of this amazing team. tim curran, mark friedman, brian seg igson, chloe, bruce williams, allie hedges, ryan miller, mallory leonard, elizabeth i can't think, emily mcnulty. doug ma, dean baxter, wish you and your family and your beautiful wife well. mike stein, rob brennan, shimon baum. joe, ben gelb, charlie, chester, alex steinfield, kaitlyn westin, amanda torpey, robert melendez, emily wilson, jill davis wrate. judy hunter we miss you. ben meyer, paul cutting. paul bernius, gina fellows, phil loccisano, and lj, your name is not on this list but without you we would never get it off the ground. love you, miss you guys. can't wait in 2021 when we can all be in a room together, shake hands and hug, but for now we're staying apart, staying safe and celebrating wisely. thanks for joining us, everybody, and to our viewers, thank you so much. i hope you have a safe, peaceful, quiet weekend. stay safe, stay healthy, i'm christine romans. "new day," is next. this new variant from the united kingdom has been identified here in the state of california. >> it is very likely the vaccine induced response will protect you. >> of course, we need to be doing a better job, but all vaccine programs start somewhat slow. >> the president is going to be leaving his florida club earlier than expected and going book to washington. >> do you believe that families struggling in america should get up to $2,000? democrats do. >> i won't be bullied into rushing out more money that has no realistic path to pass the senate. >> 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. it is new year's eve and 6:00 here in new york