Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Trump Leaves White House After Unleashing New Chaos, Vetoes Defense Bill, Threatens COVID Relief, Issues Pardons; Operation Warp Speed: U.S. Will Finish Delivering 20 Million Vaccine Doses In The First Week Of January; Researchers: Hundreds In U.S. May Already Have New COVID Strain; CDC: Over One Million COVID-19 Vaccines Administered; Trump's Call For $2,000 Stimulus Payments Creates Waves In Georgia Senate Runoffs. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 23, 2020 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news.

President Trump just left this self-imposed bunker over at the White House for Florida after unleashing new chaos in his final days in office. He vetoed a critical defense bill just a short while ago, and he's threatening to upend the huge coronavirus relief bill as well.

As if that weren't enough, he granted a slew of controversial pardons the outgoing president making demands and causing disruption as millions of Americans are sick, suffering or dying.

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 just surpassed 325,000, with more than 18.3 million cases following the second deadliest day of the pandemic. Tonight, the CDC says more than a million doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine have been administered amid questions about the vaccines effectiveness against a new strain of the virus.

Let's begin over at the White House. Our Correspondent Jeremy Diamond is joining us right now. You're actually in West Palm Beach, Florida already, Jeremy, that's where the President is heading right now. The President left Washington without taking any questions from reporters about the grenades he's leaving behind.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf, President Trump is set to arrive here in Palm Beach in about an hour and he arrives here after setting multiple fires in Washington. The president vetoing one major piece of legislation, signaling that he may veto a second.

And with his presidency slipping away, Wolf, it is very clear that this President is intent on using every ounce of power that he still has.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DIAMOND (voice-over): The lame duck president is trying to convince America he is anything but vetoing a defense bill threatening to up end Coronavirus relief and issuing a wave of controversial pardons.

Today, Trump's vetoing the annual defense bill after lawmakers refuse to kill a provision renaming military bases named after Confederate generals. But instead of a win Trump is likely to suffer the first veto override of his presidency.

That move came after Trump also appeared to have threatened to veto the coronavirus relief bill just passed by Congress, putting $900 billion in desperately needed financial stimulus and vaccine distribution funds at risk.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Send me a suitable bill, or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package.

DIAMOND: Trump's thread coming as another 803,000 Americans filed for first time unemployment just last week.

Attacking the bill as a disgrace, Trump undermined his spokesman who said he would sign the legislation. His Treasury secretary who negotiated on Trump's behalf and the majority of Republicans who voted to pass the bill, including the Republican senators running in Georgia's special election.

SEN. DAVID PERDUE, (R) GEORGIA: We voted on this next round of COVID. And I'm so proud to be able to bring that relief back to Georgia.

DIAMOND: The President objecting to a slew of funding provisions that are actually included in a separate government spending bill in which the President requested in his annual budget to Congress, like $1.3 billion in aid to Egypt $25 million to support democracy and gender programs in Pakistan, and $40 million for the Kennedy Center. Trump also calling on Congress to triple the stimulus checks to Americans.

TRUMP: I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple.

DIAMOND: Democratic leaders pouncing on that idea, which many Republicans oppose. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeting "Democrats are ready to bring this to the floor this week by unanimous consent. Let's do it."

Trump's threat to up and the legislation even blindsided White House officials who were scrambling to determine if Trump was actually threatening a veto.

Meanwhile, the President doling out a slew of pardons fit for the last gasps of a presidency even as he refuses to accept defeat.

Pardons for George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan, who both pleaded guilty to lying to special counsel Robert Muller's investigators, Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter, who was convicted of misusing nearly a quarter million dollars in campaign funds. And Republican Congressman Chris Collins, the first lawmaker to endorse Trump who pleaded guilty to securities fraud. Trump also pardoning four Blackwater security guards, who were convicted of murder and manslaughter charges after killing 17 people at a Baghdad traffic circle in 2007.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, (D) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: When you look through all of them, what ties them together is corruption. It is corruption. He's literally burning down the House of Justice as he walks out the door.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

[17:05:00]

DIAMOND: And Wolf, today, marks Attorney General Bill Barr's last day in office nearly two years after he was confirmed as President Trump's Attorney General. He was one of the most loyal cabinet member of President Trump. But their relationship soured in recent months over a series of issues including the President's efforts to contest the 2020 election.

Now, the -- Bill Barr will be succeeded by the Deputy Attorney General Rosen. He faces a number of issues with the President now as the President considers appointing special counsels to investigate voter fraud as well as matters relating to Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden. Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll see what Rosen does over the next 28 days until the inauguration.

Jeremy, stay with us. I want to bring in our CNN Political Analyst Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Congressional Editor for "The New York Times" and CNN Political Commentator Bakari Sellers, the author of my "Vanishing Country."

Julie, is President Trump simply trying to create as much chaos as he possibly can on his way out of the door?

JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it certainly seems that way. Although I will say that I'm not sure why any of us are surprised to see him reacting this way to this latest stimulus and spending bill that Congress just cleared after really a Chilean (ph) effort over several months.

He has in the past threatened to and in fact, refuse to sign big spending bills of this kind. And the fact that he was not involved in these negotiations at all, he, you know, would weigh in, in sort of disruptive ways, but not really do anything to bring about a deal. Made it almost inevitable, I think that he was going to look at this in the end and see an opportunity to really make an issue here.

So I do think that he is trying to sort of churn up a lot of chaos. I think he's maybe doing things and then trying to distract from those things by doing other things. The timing of this threat on the stimulus bill came right after those pardons that he caught a lot of criticism for.

But I think as Jeremy said, he's also trying to flex his muscles and use whatever power he has in the remaining few weeks of his term.

BLITZER: Yes, you make a good point that it's certainly awkward for his Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin who was directly involved in these talks are with the House and the Senate leadership.

You know, Bakari, how much of this do you think is about the -- about a president who's angry with his fellow Republicans for not giving them enough support in his efforts to try to overturn the democratically held election results?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think we may be looking too deep into this moment. This president being erratic is par for the course.

The things he's doing now been things he's been doing in his administration for the last four years. There's really no rhyme or reason. And I think sometimes we give him too much credit for trying to be calculating when it's just utter chaos and not too much calculation that goes into it.

But to your point, I think this does have a very serious political implication, because now you have to ask Kelly Loeffler, you have to ask David Perdue, do they support a $2,000 stimulus payment check directly to individuals? Do they support the President's veto of the defense -- of the defense spending bill?

So he put them in a very, very difficult position where now they have to defend positions, that you really don't want to be defending two weeks out from an election, when you're already saying that you're supporting him overthrowing the election results in the state of Georgia. So there are political implications.

I just think this President's checked out. I don't think he cares anymore. I think he's going to go down to Mar-a-Lago, he's going to hang out with the Country Club folk who were there. He's going to have a good time and drink some eggnog and not really care about the chaos he's causing and try to move forward with figuring out what's going to happen from January 21 forward.

BLITZER: So Jeremy, how does this end right now 28 days until Biden becomes president of the United States? Does anyone have any idea what the President is going to do over the next 28 days?

DIAMOND: Nobody knows, Wolf. Nobody knows how this is going to end.

Even the President's closest aides, you know, they will tell you that they are -- the President is erratic. And he is -- says a different thing one day versus the next, you know.

This is a president who has been floating and considering a range of dramatic actions, including discussing in an Oval Office meeting the possibility of using martial law in some key battleground states. He has talked to some aides about the fact that he doesn't want to leave the White House on January 20, ultimately, to only be talked down from that. And so there are some aides who are more in the wishful thinking category, saying that they believe that President Trump at the end of the day will accept to the results to the extent that he can and actually leave office peacefully. And then there are other aides who are far more alarmed, Wolf.

And more aides are falling in that category and have fallen in that category over the last week because the President's behavior has not only become more erratic, but he is also listening to so many of these more fringe advisors who are putting some really dangerous and at times anti-democratic ideas in his head. And the President isn't saying no to those ideas. He is actively considering them, Wolf.

And so there are a number of aides of the President who have grown increasingly concerned in the last week. And certainly none of them, whether they are more concerned or more on the wishful thinking side of things, nobody knows how this is going to end.

[17:10:08]

BLITZER: You know, I'm curious, Julie, how what you're hearing about how great the concern might be across the outgoing Trump administration about what else President Trump might be doing in these final days?

DAVIS: Well, I think it's at a pretty high level now, because he is acting in a way even for him that's very erratic. He's clearly -- the number of advisors around him who are able to sort of talk him out of or talk him away from, some of the more extreme ideas that he has that, you know, as, as Jeremy said, you know, some of his colleagues, both on the Hill and outside the government are putting his head, those people are dwindling.

And so he is hearing from the most conservative lawmakers in the House and Senate who are encouraging him to go ahead and try to overturn the election result on January 6, when Congress has to certify it officially.

And he's hearing from, you know, Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn and some of these folks who really have a lot of wild ideas about what should happen now. And so, I think there's a very high level of concern among his advisors and also among Republicans in Congress, that this is headed in a direction that they don't like, and they're not sure how they can stop it.

BLITZER: Yes, that's really the key question right now.

You know, Bakari, we're also expecting even more pardons from the President. After this initial wave last night, the President pardon two of his first backers in Congress, men who lied in the Russia investigation, contractors convicted of slaughter of a rocky civilians, What message does all this stand?

SELLERS: I mean, you hear people say the words corruption. But I don't really think that goes far enough, Wolf. I mean, to be completely honest, some of the people that he's pardon were just murderers. They were brutal.

They didn't believe in the value of or the sanctity of life. I was reading articles from "The New York Times," and post on Twitter and everywhere else and they were going back talking about the youngest victims of these slaughters that occurred overseas, and how a father had to witness his son's brains being blown out.

And the President of the United States as we go during this holiday season, one of his last acts before he gets to go spend time with his family is to pardon individuals who were callous, who were murdering, who slaughtered and who did so and were sentenced, they didn't commit the acts, but who were sentenced and prosecuted by his administration and during his term.

And so there's no justification for it. I get paying back a political favor to people who endorsed politicians do that. That's obscene. You should be outraged by it.

You know, I understand that he believes the Russia investigation was fake. So he's pardoning people. That's obscene. But I understand the politics of it.

But to pardoned murderers, Wolf, and people who had taken away young folk from their family, this is going to be a stain on not just Donald Trump, but all of those individuals, particularly in Evangelicals who lift him up and praise them. This is just that -- this is a sad day and people should pay more attention to these callous acts that the President is committing in the White House.

BLITZER: And everybody anticipates more pardons. Probably many more pardons are on the way over the next 28 days.

Everybody, thank you very, very much. Don't go too far away.

I want to get right now to the President-elect of the United States Joe Biden, these moving tonight forward with the transition despite President Trump's disruptions. Our senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny is covering all this from Wilmington, Delaware for us.

Jeff, Biden introduced his nominee for Education Secretary today. Update our viewers, Jeff, on the very latest.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, he did introduce Education Secretary nominee, Miguel Cardona. He is the head of the school system in the state of Connecticut. And he has been a proponent of reopening schools in this country in the wake of the pandemic.

He's a former elementary school teacher himself turned principal. He grew up speaking Spanish as a first language. He talked about how public schools helped him.

But he also, you know, was really talking about how he will play a central role in the Biden's plan to reopen schools. Take a listen to the President-elect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's mixed signals from the White House that have left more confusion than calm. And they left so many parents and schools feeling like they're on their own. But we also need someone who knows what it's like what it takes to get through this crisis.

Reopening schools safely, will be a national priority for the Biden- Harris ministration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So clearly, that is going to be a big priority, Wolf.

And now with Education Secretary in the books, there are about five more key positions that President-elect Biden still is trying to fill. Chief among them Attorney General and the director of the CIA.

We are learning tonight some new names potentially for the CIA director, Mike Morell, who led the CIA during the Obama administration briefly but came under fire for his influence on drones and torture policy. He is no longer in the running, we're told. But we are told that Lisa Monaco, a former Homeland Security Adviser in the Obama administration, and a key advisor to the vice president, as he was picking his running mate, as well back last summer. She's also in the running for CIA, Wolf.

So we are told that those decisions are not likely to come after the holiday, perhaps in the New Year.

BLITZER: We'll watch that together with you. Thank you very much.

One quick question before I let you go, though, Jeff. What are you hearing about the Trump administration's cooperation with the Biden transition team right now, because we're hearing some disturbing development. So what do you know?

ZELENY: Wolf, we definitely are seeing tensions escalating here between the Biden transition team and the Pentagon. Largely, the Trump political appointees inside the Pentagon.

We heard Mr. Biden say yesterday that he simply has not been giving the briefings. His team haven't been getting the briefings at the Pentagon. And this is important because of those cyber-attacks that we heard President-elect Biden talk about yesterday calling President Trump out for not speaking out sharply enough about them. So that's why these briefings matter.

The Pentagon said it's not true that they have been getting the briefings but the Biden team pushed back again today, Wolf, said they have not been getting those briefings. And now they're not scheduled until early next year. Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, they should be getting those briefings. Clearly, it's really important to make sure the incoming administration knows what it's doing, knows all of the information as it takes office on January 23.

All right, Jeff, thank you very much.

More breaking news just ahead, on the soaring death toll from the pandemic, as researchers suspect hundreds of Americans may have a new strain of COVID-19 and not know it. I'll ask Ohio Governor Mike DeWine about his concerns about that new strain and if his state is seeing any lag in getting people vaccinated. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:40]

BLITZER: And U.S. now heads into the Christmas holiday, the coronavirus crisis has taken an even deadlier turn. We're following all the breaking news on the pandemic. CNN's Alexandra Field is putting it all together for us.

So, Alexandra, what's the latest?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the all-out effort to protect frontline workers continues here at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. They say they will keep up with those vaccinations through the holidays. Of course they want to get that job done.

This, as the U.S. records 18 point 3 million COVID cases, 324,000 deaths. That means we are now careening toward an almost unthinkable number this Christmas week.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): A crisis now on the verge of a horrific new milestone. By the end of the week, it is likely that 330,000 Americans, roughly one in 1000 Americans would have died from COVID- 19.

For the fifth time in the U.S., deaths climbed higher than 3,000 on Tuesday. It was the second deadliest day of the pandemic.

California is on track to be the first state in the nation to hit 2 million cases.

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, FORMER CDC DISEASE DETECTIVE: It's so bad here that if our state with its own country, we'd be ahead of the U.K., India and Germany in terms of the number of new infections. So this situation is dire.

FIELD: The little relief that could be on the way to Americans is now in jeopardy with President Trump casting doubt on the future of a $900 billion stimulus bill. In a surprise Twitter video,

TRUMP: I am asking Congress to amend this bill.

FIELD: The chaos surrounding this deal coming as the government strikes another deal to purchase 100 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Nine days after the first shots in arms just over a million doses of Pfizer vaccines have been administered according to the CDC website. There's no data yet on how many Moderna shots have been given, but it's likely the country will fall well short of a big goal, 20 million vaccines given by the end of the year.

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: If we don't quite get that 20 million people being vaccinated this month, I hope people will understand. This is a logistic challenge of enormous proportion.

FIELD: A pressing question about those vaccines, are they as effective against the variant virus identified in the U.K.?

COLLINS: We would expect that the vaccine should still be effective against that. So, I want everybody to sort of take a breath here.

One of the things we are worried about is that appears to be more transmissible.

FIELD: And possibly more infectious for children but more study is needed. Researchers suggest the U.S. may already have hundreds of cases.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, INCOMING CDC DIRECTOR: We have been saying loud and clear to the entire American people, we need to be limiting our mobility period.

FIELD: That warning coming just as the TSA reports record high pandemic air travel in time for the holidays. The number of people passing through America's airports around 1 million for each of the last five days and likely to hit a new high tomorrow.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: This type of travel is risky, particularly if people start congregating when they get to their destination in larger crowds in indoor settings.

FIELD: New York City taking no chances with anyone coming in.

MAYOR BILL DEBLASIO, (D) NEW YORK: If you don't comply with the quarantine, that's $1,000 fine to begin, day one. If you continue not to comply with the quarantine is $1,000 for each additional day.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FIELD: And, Wolf, in terms of the vaccine rollout, we are getting new estimates from health officials tonight while they had hoped to have administered 20 million doses of vaccine by the end of this year. They are now saying they believe they will have delivered 20 million doses not administered but delivered 20 million doses by sometime during the first week of January. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. And the CDC now says more than a million Americans have at least received the first dose of this new COVID vaccine.

Alexandra, thank you very much.

We're joined now by Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine.

As I said, Governor DeWine, thank you so much for joining us.

More than a million Americans have now received their first dose of the COVID vaccine. But as you also heard, the country is already falling behind on the goal of 20 million vaccinations by the end of this year within the next few days. Does the rollout in Ohio reflect the same lag?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE, (R) OHIO: Well, I think there's always going to be some lag. You know, we just really got started. You know, we had last week. Pfizer but most of that was going into our nursing homes. And our nursing homes really started on Friday and then really got rolling on Monday.

[17:25:09]

So, we're coming along. There's a lot of moving parts, we've got 113 health departments that are administering this. We've got the four pharmacy companies that are doing our nursing homes.

So, you know, there's a lot of moving parts here. But I think it's coming. We had a lot.

My press conference today for -- we went to four different locations around the state and people were getting vaccinated and talking about it. We're just trying to encourage people to get the vaccine and having people, you know, have different backgrounds and people with different jobs, you know, talking about they got the vaccine or we show them getting the vaccine.

So we're trying to encourage people to get that vaccine. But the logistics are complicated. But I think so far, so good.

BLITZER: Yes. Well, so far a million Americans have received at least the first dose of that vaccine.

Are you considering, Governor, any restrictions or enhanced screenings, for example, for people flying into your state from the United Kingdom, which is grappling, as you know, with this new variation, this new strain of the COVID virus?

DEWINE: No, we have not. You know, we don't have much direct flights in. you know, we're not like New York, or L.A. or someplace else.

You know, I've listened to what the experts say, you know, several experts, you've had them on your show have basically said, you know, it's probably here already. But I'm leaving that up to other health experts to make that -- to make that call and make that decision.

BLITZER: What do you fear, Governor, could be on the horizon if people get together indoors for Christmas and New Year's, how worried are you about this? Because the numbers right now are awful, 3,500 deaths from COVID just yesterday, here in the United States.

DEWINE: You know, Wolf, when we look at what happened over Thanksgiving, we didn't have a huge pop up, really. We saw interactions between people go down, compared to the previous Thanksgiving.

But this is a longer holiday, you know, this basically goes in our family, we would all -- normally we start on Christmas Eve, and you'd go from the 24th, you know, all the way till when people go back to school or back to work, usually in the second or third. So it's a bigger, bigger chunk of time. And so we're very concerned about it.

You know, we've -- I've told the people of Ohio, and more importantly, the health experts have told them, you know, don't eat with anybody if they don't live in your household. And if you're around someone who's not in your household, make sure you were masking, keep a distance.

I mean, these are -- these are basic things. But we let our guard down, you know, particularly when around holidays, particularly when we're around friends. So we really relying on Ohioans to, you know, to pull back in -- this this Christmas. Just like Thanksgiving was not a normal Thanksgiving, Christmas is not going to be a normal Christmas either. It shouldn't be.

BLITZER: Yes. I'm still worried, very worried about the numbers -- cases, hospitalizations, deaths, let's say the second and third week in January as this thing continues, unfortunately, to explode.

Let me switch gears, Governor, while I have you. The President just vetoed the defense spending bill. It's what a $740 billion spending authorization bill. There's a chance he may do the same thing with the COVID relief bill. How much damage does this do to your fellow Republicans who are serving in Congress, potentially to the country right now, in these final days of his presidency?

DEWINE: Well, we need the COVID bill. You know --

BLITZER: The defense bill, you need too. We need that as well.

DEWINE: We need -- oh, no, no, we needed the defense bill. I just haven't been tracking yet.

You know, I spent 20 years in Congress, but I'm not tracking that. And I didn't know until you just told me frankly, that he had -- he had -- he had vetoed that. And so, you know, I don't know why he did that.

BLITZER: One thing he didn't like, though, is that they that the bill mandates removal of Confederate generals names from U.S. military bases. That's one thing he cited for his veto.

DEWINE: OK. Well, let's hope he does not veto, you know, the COVID relief bill. I mean, he made some points that, you know, some of that money should have been more. And I understand that. But, you know, this was a process that I think Congress did the best they could. They got to build together, they got it out.

You know, we hope that they'll be able to come back after the first year and, you know, fill in some gaps. But this bill will be very helpful to us. And like I said, it's not perfect, but, you know, I appreciate the work that Congress did on.

DEWINE: Well, you served in Congress for a long time. And you know, sometimes with two parties, the majority in one house, the majority in the other house of different parties, you got to -- you got to compromise.

And as I often say, you can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good especially when it comes to all these millions and millions of Americans who are suffering right now.

[17:30:00]

You got to move and you got to move the best way you can. Governor DeWine, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. Good luck to you. We'll stay in very close touch. Thanks for everything you're doing.

DEWINE: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: Coming up, what you need to know about a new strain of COVID- 19 that's spreading in the United Kingdom right now and could be already here in the United States. And health officials are ratcheting up their warnings that the surge in holiday travel could be deadly. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Tonight, researchers say hundreds of Americans may have the new COVID-19 strain, that's clearly spreading big time in the United Kingdom. Joining us now Michael Osterholm, the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He's also on the Biden-Harris transition COVID-19 advisory board. Thanks so much for joining us. We're still learning a lot more about this new variant of the virus, Professor Osterholm. It's spreading across the U.K. How worried should folks here be about this?

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, BIDEN-HARRIS TRANSITION COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD: Well, I think, Wolf, we have to be very concerned about this strain, but in addition, there's another strain that is separate and different that circulated in South Africa. That may even be a bigger threat to us right now than the one in the U.K. But this both strains like this, as it is right now is telling us that this is probably the new reality that we're going to start seeing more and more of the emergence of these very change strange what we had when the pandemic first begin.

[17:35:21]

BLITZER: Are you confident, Professor, that this variation in South Africa or in the U.K. won't necessarily impact the overall effectiveness of the two vaccines that have been authorized here in the United States?

OSTERHOLM: I think the good news around this is that right now, the best data we have would support that the vaccines are still going to remain effective, quite effective. And that in terms of the protection that we have from the antibody we get when we get ill also is likely protective. The bad news is this likely going to mean a much higher level of

transmission, potentially 70 percent higher. And right now with our overrun hospitals as it is, if this starts to circulate in the United States, I think it's just a matter of time it will, that means we're going to really add on to the burden of cases that are already present. And that to me, I think, is a grave concern.

BLITZER: So you think we should tighten up travel restrictions, prevent folks from the U.K. or South Africa for that matter from coming into the country?

OSTERHOLM: You know, I have to tell you that as much as it would have seemed obvious that such kind of travel bans make a difference they really don't. This virus is likely in many, many different countries right now. The same thing is true even with the South African virus, we're now seeing it show up in the U.K. itself with -- now they have both. I think these viruses are here, they're going to be spreading right now. What we have to do is beef up our system in the United States.

Unfortunately, our current system here for looking at these viruses and determining their genetics is very, very, very limited. We are with the bottom countries of the high income countries in doing this. And so what we have to do is really increase our ability to test these samples, and to give us a forewarning when this virus is spreading.

BLITZER: This is so awful. It's the last thing we need now with the death toll soaring and about a million people traveling through airports here in the U.S. every day during this holiday week. How bad could things get in the next few weeks? We know yesterday 3,500 or so Americans died?

OSTERHOLM: Obviously is a real concern. You know, we have about 50 percent to 60 percent of the country right now that is in really tough shape. Look at California, Tennessee, a number of states where literally the hospital systems are on the verge of collapse in terms of being able to provide care.

And if we anticipate that Christmas is going to add to the potential surge of cases, based on just all we know about how people are traveling, moving, having contact with each other, and now you throw into the mix this new strain which in in the U.K. and South Africa, clearly is associated with increased transmission, then I think this is a real concern.

And what we have to do first and foremost is understand we don't want anybody to get infected. But at the very least we have to protect our hospitals from collapse in terms of providing medical care.

BLITZER: Yes, we absolutely do. As you know, the Trump administration announced today the purchase of what, another 100 million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine. That's really important. Excellent news. But will that actually speed up the vaccination timeline at all? We know already a million Americans have at least -- have received at least the first shot, the first dose of this vaccine. OSTERHOLM: Well, it's obvious we need the vaccine. And that's good news today to have more vaccine. But what I'm really concerned about is the fact that what happens in Congress in the next day or two in terms of the relief money, the money that we needed state and local health department's right out of fund giving the vaccine is tied up there.

We don't have the resources out here to deliver this vaccine without that support. And so, I hope people understand our lifeline with this vaccine is actually being compromised substantially if we don't have the resources to get the vaccines into people's arms.

So, we need to get that support out here. Or I don't care how much vaccine you have. We're never ever going to get the vaccination level done that we need to in the next days ahead.

BLITZER: Yes, that's obviously, so, so critical. Michael Osterholm, as usual, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for everything you're doing. And please have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

OSTERHOLM: You too.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Coming up, can millions of desperate Americans still count on help from the federal government now that President Trump is blasting the coronavirus relief bill? The President's demand for $2,000 stimulus payments has thrown a curveball into Georgia Senate run offs. We're going to get an update, we're going to Georgia when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:43:20]

BLITZER: We're following the breaking news, President Trump by now heading to his Mar-a-Lago resort down in Palm Beach, Florida after unleashing a new round of chaos here in Washington. Let's discuss the situation with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Senator, thank you so much for joining us.

As you know, the President just vetoed the defense bill. He's now putting the COVID relief deal at risk after sitting out months of negotiations. Why the last-minute intervention with benefits for millions of Americans right now on the line, so many Americans are suffering.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): It's a blunder, deeply, dangerous and self-destructive, pathetic, sad, crazy. And my hope is that it will be overwritten by the same kind of overwhelming bipartisan majority that both measures the national defense budget and the pandemic relief bill passed by both Houses of Congress overwhelmingly, and I think it should be overwritten promptly and decisively.

BLITZER: Yes, the defense authorization bill, what a $740 billion package to fund the U.S. military, it passed the House 335 to 78 passed the Senate 84 to 13, veto proof unless a whole bunch of Republicans decide to change their mind and support the President this time around. We don't know what's going to happen next week, but it's obviously very critical. Does the President, do you believe, have the leverage to get Republicans to back a bigger stimulus check, let's say, he wants $2,000, $4,000 for a couple. You probably want money like that as well.

[17:45:01]

BLUMENTHAL: I'm all in on $2,000. Democrats supported it before the passage of this bill. But President Trump failed to lift a finger. He did nothing. He was silent. And so, the question is for my Republican colleagues, will they now stand up, not just speak out, but be with the President on a stimulus bill when Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer offer it by unanimous consent. And frankly, I was absolutely floored. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the President decided to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, because it's a real gut punch to our military.

It's not only about providing cyber defenses right after the most massive cyber attack in our nation's history, but also pay for our men and women in uniform, their health care, their body armor, their family's health care, more than just the weapons platforms. And I think this threat to veto the pandemic relief is absolutely destructive, because it will deny stimulus payments for families. $2,400 for a family of four when they most needed aid for our small businesses that are hanging by thread and unemployment insurance that runs out at the end of the year.

BLITZER: You're on the Armed Services Committee. One of the reasons the President vetoed the defense authorization bill is because he doesn't like that includes a mandate to remove the names of Confederate generals from U.S. military bases. What do you say to that?

BLUMENTHAL: What I say is that military bases should not be named after failed generals, who by the way, treasonously rebelled against our nation. There are real heroes whose names ought to be on those bases. And the other reason he gave, the Section 230 reform, I'm for Section 230 reform, which provides for responsibility on the part of internet websites for what they run, but not on this bill. It is irrelevant.

So, it was, again, pathetic, sad, but deeply dangerous and destructive, self-destructive, as well as destructive to our national security and defense that the President vetoed this bill. And if my Republican colleagues are serious about all the flag waving, and all the rhetoric, patriotic words, they ought to back it by action and vote for an override. And, by the way, Wolf, I'm very hopeful, even optimistic that they will from what I'm hearing on the House side, as well as the Senate side.

BLITZER: That was a former Pentagon correspondent, I think that the military needs it. If you support the military, they need the money, they need it now. And let's see if the Republicans in the Senate and the House decide to override the President's veto. I suspect you're probably right. I suspect they will. Senator Blumenthal, thank you so much for joining us. I want you to have a happy, happy New Year.

BLUMENTHAL: And to you and all your listeners as well. Thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Coming up, how President Trump's sudden call for $2,000 stimulus checks is making waves in the Georgia Senate run offs where both Republican incumbents supported the lower $600 payments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:52:43]

BLITZER: President Trump's veto today of the defense spending bill and his call to increase the direct payments in the coronavirus relief package are both causing waves in the Georgia U.S. Senate runoffs. CNN's Ryan Nobles is covering the crucial contest for us. So, Ryan, what are you seeing where you are?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it's important to point out that both of these two pieces of legislation, the Defense Authorization Act, and the COVID relief bill in the omnibus spending plan were things that both David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler not only endorsed but voted for in the United States Senate. In fact, that morning after the COVID relief, an omnibus budget bill passed, David Perdue was up on the airwaves here in Georgia touting the fact that that legislation had been passed and that he was so proud to support it.

So it -- no doubt threw these Republicans for a loop when President Trump came out and in less than 24 hours undermined both of these candidates by saying that he was no longer in support of either of these pieces of legislation. Now, Democrats have been quick to pounce on the President's change of mood if you will, regarding this situation, particularly on the COVID relief plan, both Raphael Warnock, the Democrat, and Jon Ossoff, the other Democrat have been saying for some time that $600 was just not enough. They continue to push that forward last night after President Trump said that $2,000 should be the number. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON OSSOFF (D), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: I don't know where President Trump has been for the last eight months while his allies in the U.S. Senate have been blocking this relief. President Trump is as ever erratic in all over the place. But on this point tonight, he's right. $600 is a joke. They should send $2,000 checks to the American people right now because people are hurting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Now, at this point, neither Purdue or Loeffler have said where they stand on $2,000 direct payments to American constituents. A produce office just did not respond to questions from us today on this. Kelly Loeffler had a press conference today where she kind of talked around the issue, said that she was open to a conversation surrounding this issue, but would not say whether or not she supports these $2,000 checks.

And, Wolf, this is complicating for these Republicans because they have pledged their undying loyalty to Donald Trump. So to be on the other side of an issue against the President, makes it very complicated for them as they go to his supporters and ask for their vote on January 5th. Wolf?

[17:55:06]

BLITZER: Yes, January 5th, that's coming up very, very quickly. Ryan, thank you very much. Ryan Nobles on the scene for us.

Stay with us. We have more and all the breaking news. President Trump heading off to spend the holidays in Florida after sowing chaos here in Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world, I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news on the chaos.