through extensive and rigorous review. i did. i took my shot publicly to demonstrate to the american people it s safe and effective. to address this challenge, we re going to launch a massive campaign to educate people about the vaccines, that they are safe and effective, and that they can go and get those shots and be good. i m going to close with this. this past year has been one of the most painful years in american history. as i said, we have lost over 500,000 lives to the virus. 500,000 moms and dads, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, staring at an empty chair at the dining room table or the kitchen table. friends, neighbors, coworkers. and over the country, all over the country, where the loved ones who are gone, are gone, empty, empty feeling in your chest like you re being sucked into a black hole in your chest, but all over the country, where loved ones once sat, there s an empty chair, and folks, look, there s so much we can do. as you see the broken hearts of
americans. even among trump, josh hawley said some populist republicans, who are at least some of the elements of that. we ll bring you all the developments on that. plus this, the first johnson & johnson coronavirus shots could be in americans arms as early as next week. today an fda advisory committee will review the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. authorization could come as soon as this weekend. let s begin on capitol hill. cnn s lauren fox following the latest on the stimulus bill. first step, of course, in the house. then the senate. are they on schedule, right, for this to be passed before those enhanced unemployment benefits expire? well, they are right now, jim. they got a boost, if you will, from the senate parliamentarian last night who ruled they could not include the $15 minimum wage. while that was disappointing to a majority of democrats on capitol hill, it was good news for chuck schumer, the majority leader, who supports the minimum wage himself an
the overall stimulus may have an easier time moving forward in the senate. also this hour, president biden and first lady jill biden are in houston where they are set to visit a food bank, meet some of the volunteers there. earlier today they surveyed some of the damage from the devastating winter storms in texas. we re going to bring you that video as soon as it we get it, but, first, we do want to get to an a update on where things stand with this covid relief bill on capitol hill. cnn s jessica dean is there for us this afternoon. so, just how close are we at this point to the bill passing? well, erica, we expected this bill will pass. as far as how close we are, we are many, many hours away from that actually happening, so just to give everyone a timeline update, right now that bill is still in the rules committee which is where it needs to kind of get sorted out before they can take it to the floor. once it gets to the floor, we estimate between six and seven and a hal
about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic. the latest cdc data continued to suggest that recent declines in cases have leveled off at a very high number. i am really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from covid-19. i understand the temptation to do this. 70,000 case as day seems good compared to where we were just a few months ago. but we cannot be resigned to 70,000 case as day. the new vaccine is expected to be delivered as early as tomorrow morning. and cnn s pete is in louisville, kentucky, he s at u u.p.s., which is preparing to receive and ship the new vaccine. one of the things about this vaccine, it doesn t have the same logistical challenges as the first two. u.p.s. has a lot of practice with that, briana, you know, the first truck carrying the johnson & johnson vaccine just arrived here at the u.p.s. mega hub known as world port. all day today, over at
this month. so far, more than 25 million people in the u.s. have been fully vaccinated with the double doses from pfizer and moderna. yet, along with this promising news, today the cdc director, dr. rochelle walensky added progress in defeating the virus may be stalling. we cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day, 2,000 daily deaths. please hear me clearly. at this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. reporter: dr. walensky issue this had warning as she points to evidence that the number of cases and number of deaths have slowly ticked up after weeks of going in the right direction, downward. one year ago today, right after the very first reported death in the u.s. due to the coronavirus, i spoke with then vice president pence who told me, quote, we re ready to tackle the virus. now more than 514,000 american deaths later, more than any other nation on earth, according to official numbers, it s clear t