the u.s. reporting just over 97,000 hospitalizations on saturday. but the numbers of course are still grim overall. the u.s. has now surpassed 26 million confirmed infections since the pandemic started and of course leads the world in its numbers of cases. this was extraordinary. anti-vaccination protesters in los angeles on saturday. another reminder that some people oppose covid-19 vaccination efforts even as case numbers rise around the globe. there were some reports the protesters temporarily halted operations at the dodger stadium vaccination site. but the los angeles police department says that s not the case. and in the world of politics former president donald trump s five impeachment defense attorneys have stepped aside with little more than a week before that senate trial is set to begin. sources familiar with the matter tell cnn the lawyers pulled out amid a disagreement over his legal strategy. let s talk more about this surprising development in the impeachment c
lawyers leaving. within a couple of hours, it was an exodus, five of them gone. the trial s a week away, where does this leave the defense? it s a disaster for the defense. five is all that there are. it s not simply that they open a week from tuesday. he has briefs due with his basic legal position on tuesday. it s inconceivable to me that he could get any kind of halfway professional lawyer and get together his basic claim to submit by tuesday, especially since he seems to be insisting on staying the course with the sort of big lie fraud claim that actually was the source of the problem in the first place. it was his sort of insistence and at all costs clinging to this claim that s led to the insurrection here. if he were to go in it would be the ultimate leading with his chin. now that all his lawyers have deserted him, i don t know what any litigant, let alone the former president in an impeachment trial, is to do 72 hours from when he has to state his legal position.
all around the world. i m robyn curnow. thanks for joining me. so ahead on cnn, little more than a week before the start of former u.s. president donald trump s impeachment trial, five of his defense attorneys leave the team. plus a tiny bit of good news in the fight against the coronavirus in the u.s. as cases reach a new milestone. also, protests across russia are under way again in support of activist alexei navalny. but now supporters are reaching out to the u.s. for help. announcer: live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom. with robyn curnow. and we begin this hour with breaking news. with just a little more than a week before former president trump s second impeachment trial begins, we re learning his five defense team lawyers have quit. south carolina attorneys butch bowers and debra barbier were expected to be two of the lead attorneys. they re no longer with the team. also gone greg harris, johner and joshua howard. according to people familiar with the mat
in bringing with it heavy snow and strong winds. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada and around the world, i m kim brunhuber, this is cnn newsroom. all right. we begin with breaking news from moscow, you re seeing live pictures here. police are out in force right now, they ve shut down key metro stops near the kremlin and have made numerous arrests. it s an effort to prevent another large anti-government demonstration from taking place in the capitol as we saw last weekend in cities across the country today thousands of russians have turned out in support of jailed opposition leader alexei navalny. cnn s fred pleitgen has been in the thick of it for the past hour or so fred, are you there? last time i spoke to you police had been very actively clearing the square. what s the latest there right now? reporter: well, that s still been going on, kim. the police have still very much out in force. you
of you. we can keep up with the virus as long as we continue to invest in surveillance. this is new day weekend with victor blackwell and chris christie. a look over the beautiful city of new york. thank you so much for being with us for the start of the show. just over a week now, a little more than a week until his second impeachment trial and former president trump has no defense team. cnn has learned that all five attorneys on his impeachment defense have quit. sources tell cnn that the president, former president, wanted them to argue the election was stolen from him. you know that s a lie. the sudden departures come amid fractures in the gop. house minority leader kevin mccarthy has canceled an upcoming house leadership as they grapple with infighting over former president trump s impeachment and what to do with the defiant conspiracy theorist congresswoman who says that trump has her back. daniella diaz is live from capitol hill. i know that we are just rea