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U.K. Authorizes Oxford/AstraZeneca Coronavirus Vaccine; New COVID-19 Variant Identified In Southern California, Colorado; McConnell: Dems' Proposal For $2,000 Stimulus Checks Has "No Realistic Path To Quickly Pass The Senate"; CDC: Nearly 2.6 Million COVID Vaccines Administered In U.S. Of More Than 12 Million Doses Distributed; GA Gov: Trump Demand For His Resignation Is A "Distraction"; Police Respond To Revelations Nashville Bomber's Girlfriend Warned He Was Building Explosives. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 30, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: He's survived by his wife Julia, and his two children, very young children. His son appeared in this campaign ad for his dad just months ago, a little boy, now without his father, because of this cruel pandemic. May his memory and the memory of all those lost for this pandemic, be a blessing. Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm Jim Acosta in THE SITUATION ROOM. And we're following breaking news, deepening concern about the U.S. coronavirus vaccination effort.

The Health and Human Services Department now says almost 20 million doses are available, but only 2.6 million have actually made it into the arms of Americans now living through the darkest days yet of the pandemic and the CDC just put out a new forecast projecting up to 424,000 U.S. COVID deaths by January 23.

We're also following breaking news on Capitol Hill, where efforts to increase individual pandemic relief checks to $2,000 appear increasingly unlikely despite fresh demands from President Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying a short time ago there's no realistic path were to pass quickly in the Senate.

We begin this hour with the rapidly worsening coronavirus pandemic and the disappointing vaccine numbers. CNN's Nick Watt is in Los Angeles with the latest. Nick, the Trump administration painted a much rosier picture than the reality of where we are in vaccinating Americans. Isn't that right?

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jim, we saw it with the testing earlier in the year. They talk a very big game and then just kind of fail to deliver as Admiral Brett Giroir, who's one of the guys involved in this process, said this afternoon, we need to be doing a better job. But all vaccine programs start somewhat slow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WATT: Nearly 2.6 million Americans have actually gotten their first dose of vaccine, but the goal was 20 million by end of day tomorrow.

GEN. GUSTAVE PERNA, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: There's two holidays, there's been three major snow storms, there's numerous factors. And here's what I have confidence in every day, everybody gets better.

WATT: And we're lagging behind some other countries in shots per day per capita. Better than Canada, worse than the U.K. and a lot worse than Israel.

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER COVID TASK FORCE ADVISER TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: I think it comes down to really just a lack of a national strategy on this vaccine distribution. And this has been the problem from day one on the pandemic response.

WATT: Meanwhile, the Brits just authorized another vaccine, Oxford AstraZeneca's U.S. trials continue authorization maybe in April. It's cheaper and easier to ship than those already green lit here.

MONCEF SLACUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: We know that it should be better and we're working hard to make it better.

WATT: Meanwhile, it's officially here, a new variant of the already rampant virus, one confirmed case, one more suspected in rural Colorado, both National Guard members deployed to a care facility after an outbreak.

GOV. JARED POLIS, (D) COLORADO: We don't yet have a good idea of how prevalent it is, either nationally or within our state.

WATT: This afternoon, another case confirmed in Southern California. There is no evidence this variant first detected in England is more deadly, but studies suggest it is more transmissible.

RICK BRIGHT, MEMBER, PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN'S CORONAVIRUS ADVISORY BOARD: That means it's easier to spread. It's easier for people to get infected by this virus.

WATT: Potentially piling more pressure on already crowded hospitals, nearly 125,000 COVID patients currently hospitalized in the U.S. a record here in Los Angeles County. That number is up nearly 1,000% since late October, some patients have been turned away due to oxygen supply issues.

TONI KATANO, ER NURSE: We officially have no more beds, zero beds and are more visible.

WATT: In LA there's now a COVID death on average, every 10 minutes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: And the CDC has just said that nationwide, as many as 83,000 more people might die in just the next 23 days or so. They also point out that the fact that that confirmed variant case in Colorado, that person had no travel history. That likely means that that variant has been spreading undetected in this country perhaps for some time. Jim.

ACOSTA: CNN's Nick Watt, absolutely that is a warning to everybody to be safe. All right, thanks so much for that. Now more on that battle over increasing stimulus checks President Trump being pitted against his fellow Republicans. CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins has the latest on that.

[17:05:00]

Kaitlan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appears to be saying this is not going to happen. Those increase checks are not going to happen?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jim, he's basically doing everything but explicitly saying that. But he is dashing anyone's hopes of getting those $2,000 checks through the Senate because he is saying that the fate of those checks must be tied to these other demands from the President about election security, and those liability shields for big tech companies, which all but ensures that those checks are not going to pass the Senate because the Democrats are not going to get on board with those other measures that the President wants. And Mitch McConnell of all people does know that.

So he appears unwilling to do the President's last minute bidding on these checks. But Jim, there is another Senate Republican who is ready to do the President's bidding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: It's a move that will delight President Trump and rankled Republican leadership. Josh Hawley becoming the first Republican senator to say he'll object when Congress meets next week to certify Joe Biden's win an effort that won't change the outcome, but could set up a showdown in Washington.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: There is a very clear process to handle and dispense with objections from members of Congress to the counting of the result and that's just what we'll do, dispense with them.

COLLINS: Hawley writing at the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned his caucus against this very move, saying it was bound to fail and would force Republicans to defy Trump or vote against a fair election.

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: So you've either got to say there was no systematic fraud, or Donald Trump had the worst legal team in the history of Western civilization. This is a complete sham.

COLLINS: Hawley is the first Republican senator to say he'll object but he may not be the last as others also consider their political futures. Meanwhile, the President argued that because a Gallup Poll found he was the most admired man of 2020, it also means he won the election as $600 stimulus checks were being deposited into bank accounts of Americans overnight. The fate of the $2,000 ones that Trump pushed for the last minute remained in limbo as he tweeted $2,000 ASAP.

McConnell made clear today the Senate won't move forward on a House passed bill to increase checks to $2,000. And we'll only consider a bill that includes Trumps other demands as well, which Democrats argue will doom it.

SCHUMER: The only way, the only way to get to the American people, the $2,000 checks they deserve and need is to pass the House Bill and pass it now.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MAJORITY LEADER: The Senate is not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats rich friends who don't need the help.

COLLINS: The President is also lashing out at Republican officials in Georgia once again urging the GOP governor he wants in doors to resign from office, while falsely claiming the secretary of state who voted for him has a brother working for China.

President-elect Biden announced today he'll visit the state on Monday ahead of a high stakes Senate race. The same day President Trump is scheduled to hold a rally there.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: Hello, Georgia.

COLLINS: The focus on the 2020 race and the fate of the Senate Majority comes as Trump is back to blaming states for criticism of his own coronavirus response, now saying it's on them to distribute the vaccine and telling them to get moving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And Jim, the President has been attacking these Republicans in Georgia pretty much all day long. He just did so again a few moments ago calling out the governor Brian Kemp, the Lieutenant Governor and the Secretary of State all three Republicans, all three who have said they voted for the president in the presidential election, he says there disasters for Georgia won't let professionals check those signatures though of course, as we've noted, election officials have said they were already checked when they brought those ballots in on election day.

He says they are virtually controlled by Stacey Abrams, and the Democrats and then, Jim, he calls them fools. Of course, that is going to make it awkward when the President is in their state just on Monday.

ACOSTA: #Awkward indeed. All right, Kaitlan, thanks so much.

Let's get more on the breaking news from Capitol Hill with CNN Congressional Correspondent Phil Mattingly. Phil, McConnell is essentially killing this effort to give Americans $2,000 checks, isn't that right?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there's no question about it. Look, I think you've seen the majority leader over the course of the last several days start to kind of creep towards this position. And the reason why we've paid a lot of attention to the fact that there were 44 Republicans in the House who voted to expand the checks at $2,000, that there are five Republicans in the U.S. Senate, including both Georgia Republican senators were in those crucial run offs less than a week from today, who support the $2,000 checks.

Here's what probably hasn't gotten as much notice that makes 47 Republican senators who haven't really commented on this or are already opposed to it. What I'm told is the vast bulk of the Republican conference on the Senate side is opposed to the $2,000 checks, which explains why McConnell did what he did today and make no bones about it. He essentially closed the door to any possibility of 2000 of $2,000 checks happening in this Congress. And obviously, there's only a few more days left in this Congress, Jim.

[17:10:14]

But the most interesting element of it, I think there's a couple pieces of it, is that President Trump has made clear that this is something he wants, in fact, and you can see it in Kaitlan's piece, Bernie Sanders was on the floor with a poster board of President Trump's tweets, which you don't see very often, saying $2,000 a set.

McConnell, however, has made a clear choice here. And that choice is to side with the majority of his conference to ensure that $2,000 is not something that gets an up or down vote in the Senate. And as much as it frustrates Democrats, as much as it upsets them that they don't believe they're going to get an up or down vote on this, the power of the majority leader, at least as the Senate is constructed at this point in time, is the majority leader dictates the schedule and the majority leader in this case, Senator Mitch McConnell, Jim, has made very clear that schedule will not include the House passed bill and if there's any bill that's voted on at all, it will include the bill that ties all three items that the President talked about together.

And those items, at least two of them complete nonstarters for Democrats complete poison pills for Democrats. That basically leaves us at square one, which is the $600 checks that were in the bill that the President signed into law, and probably nothing more than that, at least for the near term.

ACOSTA: All right, CNN's Phil Mattingly, standby. We want to bring you in along with CNN Political Correspondent, M.J. Lee and CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen, CNN is Kaitlan Collins, Phil Mattingly, as I just mentioned, also back with us.

David Gergen, let me start with you, it sounds as though President Trump has been tweeting nonstop for these $2,000 stimulus checks. But it does sound like Mitch McConnell has slammed the door on this. He seems to be saying no COVID relief for Americans. But we'll give you your crazy election talk next week?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, miserable and for presidency. It's really astonishing, Jim. President Trump is leaving behind the worst set of crises for his successor, since Herbert Hoover. He's, as president as himself has had the worst string of defeat over a transition period of any modern president.

And most importantly, he's leaving by millions of Americans who are suffering, whose needs have not been fully addressed. But going down in the flames on Capitol Hill with the President who until a few days ago didn't seem to give a damn what happened on Capitol Hill.

ACOSTA: And M.J., a president like Biden, he wanted these bigger stimulus checks. He talks about this, and he wants to get more pandemic aid to people. But will negotiations start all over again, when he takes office? And, you know, it does seem that Republicans in the Senate, after not really caring that much about the deficit and the debt over the last four years are moving back in that direction of saying we're going to be deficit hawks again?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. I mean, the simple answer to your question on whether these negotiations will start all over again, when Biden takes office is yes. Yes, he has said that he supports the $2,000 direct payments for COVID-19 relief.

Also, he has said he supports a number of other things because he sees even the COVID-19 relief bill that was signed into law as just a down payment as just a beginning to getting the badly needed help that a lot of people are needing during this pandemic. So in terms of negotiations, yes, when he takes office on January 20 there are going to be new negotiations, there are going to be a continuation of negotiations.

And by the way to point out the obvious, this is why Joe Biden is going to be going back to Georgia on Monday, because so much is going to depend on the outcome of these two Senate run off races. He knows how important it is, for him to give it everything that he has got for Democrats to give it everything that they have got to try to win these races, because as Phil was laying out so much right now is determined by the fact that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sets the schedule, he has the power to say yes or no on what gets brought up on the floor.

And Biden is looking at a situation where there's a continuation of that with McConnell having the power or if Democrats are lucky, and they pull through with these two Senate races, he has a very different political landscape that he is working with, where it is a lot easier for him to get some of these big legislative ticket items done when he takes office on January 20.

ACOSTA: And Kaitlan, what does it say that Republicans are ignoring President Trump's call for a bigger stimulus checks, but they'll go to bat for him on these absurd efforts to overturn the election. It just doesn't add up?

COLLINS: Well, and also those Republicans who have come out in support of the $2,000 stimulus checks, they're few and far between, but there are a few of them, who have come out and said that and that's not something they were pushing for, as these negotiations were going on between the White House and Capitol Hill and Congressional Democrats over what this was going to look like.

But they are doing it now that the President is doing it because of course they find themselves as they often have over the last four years in this position of trying to stay loyal to the president and stay in line with his agenda, but also Course maintain what they were pushing for initially.

[17:15:02]

And so you saw a lot of Senate Republicans who initially were not on board with that. Now, of course, it's in McConnell's hands and he's the one who is really trying to make sure he shepherding his party in the right direction when it comes to these payments, and what he believes is the right thing for his members.

And so you are seeing them come out as McConnell had not wanted them to do which is getting behind this effort to object to the certification of those results next week. And the thing is, I don't think Josh Hawley is going to be the last one. He's just the first to dip his toe in the water. But it does create a space where others can come forward and voice similar complaints to what he did on Twitter today.

And so you could see more Republican senators who have political ambitions, we should make clear, that's why they are doing this. And that's why they're coming forward and falling in line with what the President wants to see happen on January the sixth.

ACOSTA: But Phil, this is going nowhere. I mean, Josh Hawley, you know, he knows this. He may be new to the center or somewhat new to the Senate, but he understands this full well that this is going nowhere. And so obviously he is just burnishing his credentials as Trump's credentials for 2024. This has little to do with the 2020 election, it seems?

MATTINGLY: Yeah. Jim, I'll relay something that a Republican operative with close ties to Senate leadership told me earlier today, which is it's pretty easy to play this game when it's not live ammo, right? They know that this isn't going to overturn an election. They know that Democrats run the House. And so whatever the objections are, that are raised, they will fail, they will certainly fail on the Democrat- led House and they will fail in the Republican-led Senate as well.

I think the most interesting element about all this, and Kaitlan got it, this is the willingness to book Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Again, it was Mitch McConnell, who went to private conference called made clear to his members, this was a bad idea. It was a bad idea to join House Republicans to do this, not necessarily because of the long-term implications for the Republic, but for the long-term implications for the Republican conference.

This is going to force Senate Republicans to vote for or against what President Trump wants. And a lot of those Senate Republicans are going to be up for re-election in 2022, are up for reelection in 2024. And they will have to take what shouldn't be a difficult vote. But what politically is a difficult vote given President Trump's power within the base.

I think Kaitlan makes a good point, Josh Hawley is not going to be the only senator. I don't know who will the others will be. But there have been several senators who've been very coy on the Republican side of things in terms of what they're going to do.

And I think when you look at the feedback, or the response that Josh Hawley has gotten from Republicans, and I'm certainly at some point soon, probably from the president as well, you will see other Republican senators join them, again, it is a fruitless endeavor. It is one that is not going to change anything. But if you're looking at the political dynamics of it, and you're looking at where the power centers are in the Republican Party broadly, it probably makes some political sense.

However, if you're a United States senator in the Republican conference, and you're going against Mitch McConnell, not totally sure, that's the best idea in the world. But some people have grander ambitions in the Senate.

ACOSTA: Sounds that way. John Bolton, David, told me yesterday here in THE SITUATION ROOM that anyone who tries to overturn the results on January 6 will embarrass themselves in the history books. Those are the words he used, embarrass themselves.

David, you worked for Republicans and Democrats. Do politicians like Senator Hawley simply just see this as a key to their political futures? Why aren't more of these Republicans embarrassed by this? This is embarrassing.

GERGEN: Yeah, it is embarrassing. It's embarrassing, especially for the president, who's going through all of this to no avail. And I think he's become not a laughingstock. But I think it's going to be more and more divisive of the Republican Party. I had expected that Trump's base and Trump personally would maintain a lot of power coming out of office. I think that's much more in question now than before.

One other party to these negotiation we have not heard from yet, Jim, which I think is important to watch. And that is the American people, how are they going to respond to what they're watching now? There's $2,000 check fiasco, and the rest. And will Biden have the win at his back when he takes office? We have the strength that comes from a country that a gathering behind him, that we don't know yet, but it's going to make a powerful difference in what he can get done.

ACOSTA: And people care -- people at home care much more about getting COVID relief and adequate COVID relief, as opposed to these, you know, it's not really a coup. It's more cuckoo bird than coup stuff that's going up on Capitol Hill when it comes to the selection.

M.J., Joe Biden comes into office, though, on January 20, how does he deal with this? How does he deal with a Senate that has Republicans in it who are living in the same alternate reality as the president?

LEE: Well, as far as these challenges are concerned, I will tell you the resounding message that we have gotten over and over again from the Biden transition team, including today is there is nothing to see here. The election is over. They have said this so many times. And that has been their message for so long. When Jen Psaki at the incoming press secretary was asked about this, she said, look what is going to happen is that on January 20, President-elect Joe Biden is going to become president.

[17:20:06]

I think you're absolutely right, but there are two parallel universes here. There is one where the sitting president and apparently the Josh Hawleys of the world are either living in or pretending to live in, where they think that they can say, we are still trying to challenge the results of the election, throwing up all kinds of legal challenges at so far obviously have been all unsuccessful. And then there's a real world right here where the Biden transition team has now for weeks, they have been working on building a new government.

Just yesterday, we saw Biden for the umpteenth time, laying out his vision for dealing with COVID-19. That is very different from the sitting president's plan. So it seems like the rest of the world, again, the real world is moving on. And I think as others on this panel have noted many times, we have to really stress to the viewers that are watching. This is a fruitless exercise driven by politics, not something that is realistic, that is going to happen and the Biden transition team has been very clear on that.

ACOSTA: OK, very good. All right, thanks to all of you for that.

Up next, is there any hope left of increasing direct stimulus payments to millions of struggling Americans? I'll talk about that. And more next with Senator Ben Cardin, he is standing by to join us live. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:09]

ACOSTA: We're following breaking news on Capitol Hill where Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is blocking democratic demands for a vote on $2,000 direct payments to help families cope with a coronavirus economic crisis. McConnell says the bill has no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate.

And joining us now is Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, who's on the finance and foreign relations committees.

Senator Cardin, thanks for joining us. The Senate majority leader says he won't split these $2,000 checks from President Trump's pet issues of election fraud and regulating the internet. Is this McConnell's way of killing these bigger stimulus checks, do you think?

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-MD): Well, Jim, it looks like he's just running the clock. He's just using delay tactics so that this Congress will expire without a vote on the $2,000 direct payment. The votes are there. I believe they are. If Senator McConnell will let us have a clean vote on the floor of the United States Senate on the bill that passed the House, the American people could get this extra direct payment check that they desperately need. But clearly it's one person holding it off, and that's Mitch McConnell.

ACOSTA: And McConnell said the Senate won't be, "bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats, rich friends, who don't need the help." How do you respond to that comment from Mitch McConnell?

CARDIN: The House of Representatives passed this bill in May of this year, talking about the Senate being rushed to be nice if the Senate would just act. Mitch McConnell is preventing the Senate from taking action. This Congress ends on January the third at 12 noon. So he's clearly just running the clock out. That's what it looks like to me. So we're not being rushed. We're not being bullied. We're just not being allowed to have a vote on the floor of the United States Senate. That's one person stopping us.

ACOSTA: And let me ask you about Republican Senator Josh Hawley, one of your colleagues. He says he plans to object to the election results when Congress meets in a week even though there are no really saying grounds to object to these election results, the most he can do is delay things and cause a spectacle which we expect to happen on January 6. Joe Biden won the election. Congress is going to certify that. But how much damage could he do to the Senate and American democracy do you think in the process?

CARDIN: You know, the American people are expecting leaders in Washington that will stand up for our Constitution. Our democracy depends upon our leaders standing up for our free and fair elections and giving confidence to the American people that the majority of Americans have spoken of Vice President Biden, President-elect Biden has received 7 million more votes.

He's received more electoral votes. He is going to be the next president on January the 20th. And I think it's incumbent upon our leaders to express to the American people that this election is over. And we need to get around, gets in support of Joe Biden as our next president.

ACOSTA: Do you think senators like Josh Hawley, understand what they're doing that that there really is no hope of overturning this election?

CARDIN: I think my colleagues on the Republican side know that President-elect Biden is the president-elect that he will be our president on January the 20th. I think they're just playing politics right now, appeasing the people in their own state that would like to see a different result. And that's not leadership.

ACOSTA: And getting back to Mitch McConnell, he says the COVID relief bill you just passed should hopefully get us through what he calls the homestretch of the pandemic. If Democrats don't win those two Georgia Senate run offs next week, could these $600 checks be basically it for Americans who are suffering out there?

Senator, are you there? Can you hear me? All right, looks like we lost Senator Cardin there.

All right, we'll be right back in just a few moments.

Breaking news coming up next, a disturbing new projection of 10s of 1000s more Americans losing their lives to COVID in the coming weeks, I'll talk about it with former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

ACOSTA: And you're looking at live pictures of the Senate floor right now. The Senate is right now in the middle of a procedural vote on whether to begin debate to override President Trump's veto of the defense bill that has been in the news over the last several days.

There's debate over how to move forward with this veto override of the National Defense Authorization Act. As you recall, President Trump vetoed that legislation. It was overwritten in the House. Now they're trying to do that in the Senate. And GOP leaders hope that now that Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has made clear that the House passed $2,000 stimulus checks bill cannot be adopted in the Senate before the end of the Congress on January 3rd.

Members should find a way to vote on the NDAA as it's called as soon as tonight. But we should point out and we've been talking about this with tempers and emotions running high over this stimulus payment issue. A quick resolution to this NDAA controversially seems unlikely. That is the bill that funds our military in this country.

And so if GOP leaders are forced to drag out the timeline and all of this, this could lead to a final override vote on Saturday. So we'll be keeping an eye on that, watching that, and we'll bring any developments as they come up.

Now, more on the breaking pandemic news, the growing concern over the pace of vaccinations in the U.S., the White House's own testing czar telling CNN quote, we need to be doing a better job. Joining us now is the former CDC Director, Dr. Tom Frieden. Dr. Frieden, thanks for joining us.

[17:35:06]

With one day left in 2020, thank goodness it's almost over, the U.S. is still far behind, very far behind the year end vaccination goals. There is the graphic we've been showing our viewers on screen right now allocated by the federal government 19.9 million doses distributed by the federal government, 12.4 million doses.

But check this out, administered, that means shots in arms only 2.6 million doses. That's just atrocious, Dr. Frieden. We should have more shots going into arms at this point, isn't that right? What's with the hold up? What do you make of this? DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: Well, unfortunately, Jim, this is just a reflection of ongoing, really bad management from the current White House. This program is being run as a logistics program rather than a vaccination program. When you hear the leaders from Operation Warp Speed talk, it sounds like they're delivering groceries. This is the temperature. This is the restocking cadence. That's not how do you get people vaccinated.

A vaccination program means engaging with communities, doing detailed plan to figure out who's going to give the vaccine, during what hours, with what throughput? How are you going to engage communities? What are the right messages? What are the right messengers?

And only recently has Congress passed and the President signed a bill to fund the vaccination campaign. So we are really months behind in the planning that's needed. The great news is it is a highly effective vaccine. We're not seeing severe safety signals. We've seen some allergic reactions, but those are manageable.

And we have the prospect of protecting people and driving down death rates and hospitalization rates. But its months in the future, even with a well performing vaccination program. And clearly, there's a lot of cleanup that's needed to get the program up to speed.

ACOSTA: Yes, Dr. Frieden, I mean, Americans were promised Warp Speed. And while we did see the development of a vaccine happen very quickly, the U.S. isn't just behind its own stated goal for vaccinations, it is also falling well behind other countries.

Take a look at this. Look at how the U.S. compares to Israel, Bahrain, the United Kingdom, what have those nations figured out that the U.S. has not? And how do we fix this? Because you know, Americans are sitting at home, I'm sure right now saying, well, I'll take a vaccine if they've got extra vaccines lying around. Tell me where to sign up. I'll head over right now.

FRIEDEN: There's an easier fix and a harder fix. The easier fix is get organized at the federal level. And I was really encouraged yesterday, the President-elect announced a whole slate of people, a vaccine coordinator, a testing coordinator, a logistics coordinator. And what we're going to see is actually an organized response starting on January 20th. We've still got three weeks before that comes.

The harder part is that the U.S. healthcare system is very fragmented. So you might have, for example, a hospital doing good job vaccinating their staff, but local health center or doctors in the community have no easy way to get vaccinated. And that's the kind of detailed planning that needs to be done in every community, every state, every city, if we're going to start to get ahead of this.

ACOSTA: And Dr. Frieden, while millions of vaccines sit in freezers, we're seeing record high coronavirus hospitalizations. And the CDC is now projecting the death toll could reach as high as 424,000 Americans by January 23rd. My goodness, that's less than a month from now. What do you fear lies ahead as we brace for what's almost certain to be another post-holiday spike in infections? I mean, it's hard to fathom this, but it could go up even more than what we're seeing right now.

FRIEDEN: Well, you're absolutely right, Jim, the problem is that even if everything goes fantastically with the vaccine, we're months away from being able to let down our guard in any way. That means masking up, watching your distance, continuing to wash your hands when you touch potentially contaminated surfaces.

And really we have months of that look forward to. And unfortunately, people are tired of it. And that's why it's so important that we keep these two things in our mind at once. First, get the vaccine out as soon and as safely as possible. And second, continue to take those safety measures to protect yourself, your family, your community, because our intensive care units are getting overwhelmed in many parts of the country.

And as you say, we're likely to see another spike after the December holidays. So we're in for a very difficult few weeks. But the future really is in our hands. The more we're careful, the more we keep distance, the more we mask up, the faster we get vaccinated, the sooner we can get to the new normal.

[17:40:00]

ACOSTA: All right. Dr. Tom Frieden, thanks for that. We appreciate it.

And coming up how Georgia's Republican governor is responding to a Trump tweet demanding that he resigned. We will go live to Georgia where there are just six days to go until the runoffs that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: We're following breaking news here in Georgia where we're down to just six days until the high stakes runoffs for both U.S. Senate seats. And President Trump is feuding with the state's Republican governor. Let's go to CNN's Kyung Lah. Kyung, a Trump tweet today demanded that the governor resign. I'm guessing at this point the governor did not hand in his resignation. But how is he responding?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he is responding in person and on camera. He asked reporters to come to the state capitol and he had this message for his fellow Republicans, a reminder the governor here in Georgia is a Republican. He said look, we are running out of time, put all of this aside, ignore the President's tweets, calling all of it, quote, a distraction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): All of these things are a distraction. I mean, I've supported the President. I've said that many times. I worked as hard as anybody in the state on his reelection through November the 3rd. I've supported the legal process that him or any other campaign can go through in this day. But at the end of the day also have to follow the laws and the Constitution.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LAH: So definitely not a resignation. The governor said he has not though yet been invited to join the President when he is going to be here on Monday, the day before the election.

[17:45:09]

We did just learn, Jim, that President-elect Joe Biden will also be in the state on Monday. As far as the early vote count, we did learn today that it is now standing at 2.57 million votes, 2.57 million votes here in the state of Georgia. It's certainly just eye-popping numbers, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. That's extraordinary. And voters have been bombarded with ads leading up to the election with a notable one out today from former President Barack Obama and singer John Legend. What was their message?

LAH: It's essentially a closing message. And it's put to a song that a lot of people here in Georgia know. It is a sentimental song delivered by a very popular Democrat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How America is counting on you again. You can send Jon Ossoff to the Senate to beat this virus, rebuild our economy, to make sure everybody can afford health care. And to carry the torch John Lewis passed to us with a new Voting Rights Act that secures equal justice for all. Georgia, you have the power, and now it's time to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: So the former President there laying out that closing argument. It's something we've heard repeatedly here, Jim, healthcare, economy, justice. But you mentioned that word bombardments of ads, it has simply been an absolute bombardment. The question is, is whether anyone will hear that closing argument here, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. It's going to be very busy for you Kyung over the next several days. We appreciate that very much. Plan to spend election night with CNN. Our special coverage of the U.S. Senate races in Georgia starts at 4:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.

And coming up dramatic 911 calls in the moments after the massive Christmas explosion in Nashville, plus, what the suspect's girlfriend told police about him more than a year ago where critical clues missed.

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[17:51:30]

ACOSTA: And there's breaking news in the investigation of the Christmas bombing in Nashville. Police now are responding to revelations. The suspect's girlfriend warned them in 2019 that he was building bombs. CNNs Martin Savidge is in Nashville. Martin, tell us more.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim there is growing concern tonight in this community that law enforcement may have missed a prime opportunity to perhaps intervene and prevent the disaster that happened here on Christmas Day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, what is the address of your emergency?

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Tonight, newly released 911 calls revealing the moments before and after the blast. Just before 5:30 a.m. Christmas Day, the first call comes into Nashville police reporting what sounded like gunfire in the city's tourist district.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There have been three rounds of gunshots inside the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Police respond, but instead of a gunman, they find an R.V. blaring a warning to evacuate the area.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you can hear this message, evacuate now.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): The next 911 calls come after the R.V. has exploded.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god, my entire building just fell down and it's collapsing. I live at -- 2nd Avenue North. Please come. Please --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The entire building just collapsed?

SAVIDGE (voice-over): But it was another call to 911 16 months earlier. Some say could have prevented the entire tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911 what is the address of your emergency?

SAVIDGE (voice-over): August 21st, 2019 an attorney reports he's concerned about one of his clients.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe I can diffuse the situation.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Police show up at the home of Pamela Perry who according to the matter of record report tells officers she's the girlfriend of Anthony Warner, the suspected bomber and the Christmas Day explosion in Nashville who died in the blast. She says that her boyfriend was building bombs in the R.V. trailer at his residence.

Police also talked to Perry's attorney who tells the officers, Warner frequently talks about the military and bomb making. He stated that he believes that Warner knows what he's doing and is capable of making a bomb.

RAYMOND THROCKMORTON, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR ANTHONY WARNER: I made a report on the spot for him to get checked out. I did all I knew that I can do.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): According to the report, police go to Warner's home knocked but get no answer. Police observed there was an R.V. trailer in the backyard. But the yard was fenced off and police could not see inside. They eventually leave and the report ends. Supervisors were notified of the incident. Authorities never managed to speak to Warner or get a look inside his R.V. The same R.V. Authority say detonated with such devastating force on Christmas Day.

THROCKMORTON: If somebody had checked Tony out and gotten him the help that he needed, then this would have never happened.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Late this afternoon, the chief of Nashville Metro Police Department defended his officers' actions in 2019.

CHIEF JOHN DRAKE, METRO NASHVILLE POLICE: I believe the officers did everything they could legally maybe we could have followed up more hindsight as 2020.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: The chief of police says actually that his officers, including experts from the explosives unit, tried over several weeks to communicate with Anthony Warner. They tried in person going to his home multiple times. And they tried speaking to him over the telephone. They never were able they say to get enough evidence to warrant getting a search warrant to go inside the R.V. Had they? Things could have been very different. Jim?

ACOSTA: Absolutely, so disturbing, Martin, that law enforcement had a heads up on some of this. All right, Martin Savidge, thanks so much for that report.

[17:54:57]

And the breaking news next, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell all about slams the door on increasing direct payments or pandemic relief checks despite new appeals from President Trump.

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ACOSTA: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm Jim Acosta in THE SITUATION ROOM and we're following breaking news on escalating concerns about the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

The CDC now says nearly 2.6 million people have been vaccinated so far. But that is just a fraction of nearly 20 million available and marked for distribution to states this as the need for protection against the virus is urgent.

[18:00:07]