where chancellor angela merkel is due to meet with leaders of germany s 16 states to discuss whether to extend a lockdown that has been in place since december. a sluggish vaccine programme, hampered by a shortage of supplies, has already been far slower than expected. so far around 8.5% of germany s population has had a first injection. and the number of cases is rising. according to the robert koch institute, the figure of confirmed cases has now risen above 2.5 million across the country. this raises the prospect of europe s largest economy going back into lockdown in the coming weeks. joining me now from frankfurt is christian schulz, who s an economist at citi. lovely to see you. what do we expect to happen in germany over the coming weeks? what will angela merkel and the regional leaders decide? we alread regional leaders decide? - already have the document that the federal government is going to use in the actual meeting. it calls for an extension of the lockdown until
up to deliver vaccines to remote areas. we start on wall street where the stock market rally continues with the s&p 500 and nasdaq closing at new record highs. america s top companies are reporting better than expected results. the senate is inching towards passing president biden s $1.9 trillion stimulus package. and there s been another fall in the number of americans filing forjobless benefits a sign the labour market is stabilising. there are still huge problems facing the world s biggest economy but investors believe the flow of cheap money from the federal reserve will keep on coming. the biggest problem isjust that we have 20 million americans who are still in some state of receiving unemployment insurance benefit so we still have a really long way to go on the labour front and that take quite a bit of time to resolve. but gdp and output may recover faster but it will take more time to employ that many americans. i think it means that for market, we now believe t
europe. and in the u.s., the new variant has become the dominant strain in just three weeks. i ll speak to a doctor about this rapid rise. joe biden s domestic agenda takes a hit as democrats fight over his build back better bill. what s being done to try to salvage the deal? plus, u.s. missionaries kidnapped in haiti say they made a daring escape. we ll bring you the latest detalds. announcer: live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with rosemary church. well, fears of an omicron takeover are becoming a reality in the u.s. on monday the cdc announced the highly contagious variant now accounts for more than 73% of new cases. omicron has been detected in all but two u.s. states, and it s even more prevalent in parts of the southeast and northwest. the variant s rapid spread comes during the busy holiday season, straining the country s testing capacity. some states are now deploying the national guard to assist, and military teams are being sent to support overwh
burnett. out front tonight, president biden throwing a hail-mary pass. the president ordering the release of 50 million barrels of oil from america s strategic petroleum reserve. biden desperate to ease rising gas prices for america. touting a deal with five other countries to do the same thing and open up their oil reserve. now, look, it is good biden is working with other countries to relieve pressure on prices but context matters and the reality is that this is essentially america alone. india releasing just 5 million barrels. 1.5 million for the uk. south korea, china, and japan, no number at all just quote/unquote working on a plan. still, biden insists the move will pay off. our combined action will not solve the problem of high gas prices overnight, it will make a difference. it will take time but before long, you should see price of gas drop. okay. well, i hope he is right. but again, context really matters. so, americans used more than 20 million barrels of oil a
liable and ordered to pay millions of dollars. but will the plaintiffs actually be able to collect? and with gas prices soaring, president biden is making moves to try to ease the pain, but many experts say it s just a drop in the bucket. announcer: live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with rosemary church. we are waiting for jurors in georgia to decide the case against three white men accused of killing ahmaud arbery, an unarmed black man. they deliberated for more than six hours yesterday. the last argument they heard came from the prosecution, who used their rebuttal on tuesday to remind the nearly all-white jury about the racial implications of the murder case. cnn s sara sidner has more now from brunswick. when three people chase an unarmed man in two pickup trucks with gun in order to violate his personal liberty, who gets to claim, i m not really responsible for that? under the law in georgia, no one gets to say that. reporter: the prosecution getti