may they rest in peace. and may their memories be a blessing. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room, you can follow me on twitter and instagram @wolfblitzer, tweet the show at cnnsitroom. erin burnett "out front" starts right now. barr breaks with trump saying there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. one person, though, standing strong by the president, rudy giuliani, who has asked the president for a preemptive pardonen. t . one of the doctors who just cast his vote is out front, and joe biden says help is on the way. the president-elect introducing his new economic team tonight. his advisers, though, already facing tough push back. let's go out front. and good evening, i'm erin burnett, out front tonight, bill barr bails. deserting trump on voter fraud.

the attorney general tonight says the justice department has uncovered no evidence of any fraud that would change the outcome of the election. now, bill barr has been beyond loyal to trump, beyond loyal, so this is a major and public shaming of his boss who tonight continues to peddle his baseless conspiracy theories. barr telling the associated press to date we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election. even bill barr says there's no evidence of mass voter fraud. when trump has lost barr, it's over. remember, this is the same bill barr, the same attorney general who has done trump's personal bidding at nearly every turn since he was confirmed in february of 2019. he actually even opened the door to trump's conspiracy theory on mail-in voting before the election. he has been lock step with trump on everything from lock downs to the deep state, to spying on trump's campaign. >> you can't do the mail-in ballots.

you can have tremendous fraud. >> i do think it increases the opportunity for fraud. >> under biden's lock down, you will be living in a prison state. >> you know, putting a national lock down, stay-at-home orders is like house arrest. >> they spied on me. they spied on our campaign. >> i think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. i think spying did occur. >> and by the way, tonight he's still pushing that angle. but it's clear barr has no trouble parroting trump, you saw that for yourself, so for him to call foul on trump's conspiracy theory, on the single most important thing in his presidency, and leaves trump on an island with the die hard sycophant, the only people left, people like rudy giuliani. in a statement, giuliani defending trump against barr writing quote with all due respect to the attorney general there hasn't been any semblance

of a department of justice investigation. giuliani adding his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud. giuliani continuing to peddle a dangerous lie. and he knows it's a lie. truth is that bar has no knowledge of systemic fraud because there has been absolutely no evidence of systemic fraud which we have seen in state after state, republican and democratic led. giuliani continues to lose in court again and again and again on these issues because judges appointed by members of both political parties have said he simply has produced no proof to back up any of his allegations. >> i know crooks really well, you give them an inch and they take a mile, and you give them a mile and they take your whole country. >> that's what he's saying, crooks running the election. why is giuliani ruining any sense of professional credibility or dignity that he has left at this point peddling these lies for trump, talking

about hugo, and one possible reason is that giuliani is speaking to trump hoping to obtain a pardon before he leaves office, hoping to get a pardon, and we're learning giuliani is not the only one from trump's inner circle who wants a preemptive pardon, and as for trump, he knows the writing is on the wall, but undermining our democracy has been very good for lining his pockets. the president has raised $170 million since election day. a lot of this from small donors, and he has done this by lying to them about fraud that didn't exist. the president should listen to his attorney general. the dangerous effort to undermine the election is destroying his supporters' trust in free and fair elections. it is deeply unpatriotic. he is hurting them, and he's hurting the country because just listen to what they have told us. >> this whole election is a farce. >> do you believe the election results? no. >> i think there was large scale

cheating. i think there was large scale voter fraud, and it has to be brought out. >> he is the one who is responsible for those very serious misunderstandings. trump's baseless claims are also putting lives at risk now. here's gabriel sterling one of georgia's top election officials a lifelong republican. you have seen him on the show many times. he called out one of the president's campaign lawyers for saying a top dhs official who said there was no voter fraud should be quote drawn and quartered, taken out at dawn and shot. >> it's all gone too far. all of it. joe digenova asked for chris krebs, a patriot who ran cisa to be shot. a 20 something tech has death threats and a noose put out saying he should be hung for

treason because he was transferring a report on batches from ems to a county computer so he could read it. it has to stop. mr. president, you have not condemned these actions or this language. someone's going to get hurt. someone's going to get shot. someone's going to get killed. >> incredibly powerful words, and it is true, mr. president. you have not condemned any of it. you have encouraged it t. kaitlan collins is out front live outside the white house. a major rebuke from trump from the man he hand picked to be attorney general, who's one of his closest allies in his entire administration, still standing by him on the spying on his administration thing, but turning on him on this most crucial thing. >> reporter: that's right, and you are completely correct to point out just how notable this is compared to what barr was telling wolf blitzer before the election when he was giving, you know, air to the idea that something like this could happen, that a foreign

government could print tens of thousands of ballots, when election experts were saying that wasn't possible or likely, and now bill barr is one of the highest ranking people we have seen break with the president by simply coming out and telling the truth, saying they have looked into these allegations coming out of the trump campaign and from the president's legal team and he says neither the justice department or department of homeland security has been able to find anything to back up the claims, especially the one coming from the president that he has been repeating several times about those voting machines, changing votes from donald trump to joe biden, bill barr said they looked into that. they haven't seen any evidence of that. immediately after barr made the competents, you saw the legal team come out and rebuke him, saying there's no semblance of a doj investigation. we have not heard from the president himself yet, and it's not clear whether we will because we have seen big barr rebuke the president in the past like when he was tweeting about investigations, tweeting about roger stone and the president did not respond so we will be

waiting to see if the president does respond to this very public rebuke of him by the attorney general. >> and so important, right, when they say the voting machines, there's been no evidence. the department of justice says that. in georgia, look, what do you mean, is there not evidence, they have looked through it. they have a paper ballot back up for every vote cast in the state of georgia. they called it the most secure election they have had. these are the facts people need to understand, yet giuliani is out there peddling things he knows to be complete lies and we are learning that giuliani and others, i suppose. other trump allies you have been reporting on are now pushing him to pardon them, to preemptively pardon them, right? >> not just pardon them, pardon some of their clients, we have heard attorneys approaching the white house about this. scene hannity was urencouraging the president to pardon himself and his family. that's a conversation inside the white house, there could be many more pardons to come, not just

mike flynn like you saw of course last week. >> thank you very much, kaitlan collins. u appreciai appreciate that. let's get to constitutional law professor at harvard, lawrence tribe, a member of al gore's legal team in 2000 for bush v. gore. let me ask you, professor tribe, you have not held back your criticism of attorney general barr. you called him a pathetic poor signed puppet for the president in a great example of alliteration. your reaction to barr tonight saying there's no evidence of widespread fraud in this election, actually standing up to the president clearly on this? >> it seems to me that he finally decided that he's got at least some reason to protect his own reputation, and he will not go any further on behalf of the president. when rudy giuliani says that barr doesn't know what he's talking about, he hasn't investigated, that's really rich. i mean what the hell does rudy giuliani know. barr has basically nailed the lid on the coffin of this

absolute myth that the election was stolen. but when a guy like j joe digenova, representing the president says without being rebuked that chris krebs who was in charge of the president's team at homeland security ought to be drawn and quartered and beheaded because he dares to question the existence of fraud, we are entering a really dangerous universe, and the president in saying nothing to discourage it is guilty of inciting essentially murder. >> so i want to talk about rudy giuliani and also in the context of some reporting, some breaking news that we're getting. so rudy giuliani we know is among the trump allies asking for a pardon, a preemptive pardon, and we're also getting breaking news about the doj. now, tonight professor investigating a potential bribery scheme for a

presidential pardon. we understand this investigation was launched back in august. >> it seems to me, it's very important, everybody agrees that you can't pardon someone ahead of the time that they actually commit a crime. that kind of preemptive pardon is impossible, and yet when you are engaged in bargaining with somebody about a possible pardon at a time when they are still engaged in all kinds of shenanigans, you are essentially saying go ahead, commit crimes if you want, and retrospective i'll give you the kind of sweeping pardon that i have now given michael flynn. it's an extreme abuse of the pardon power, almost as extreme as the self-pardon that hannity has now urged trump to grant himself. it's all an absolute violation of fundamental constitutional principles. >> so do you think there could

be a quid pro quo here? we use the word bribery, but giuliani is out there now talking about these bizarre conspiracy theories. there's no facts behind any of it. it's made up stuff, right, about venezuela, and hugo chavez running a voting company. is this possible that that's what this is all about, this is a quid pro quo and there's this, you know, he knows this pardon is coming? >> it could well be, but the point is we'll know only if whatever blanket pardons are granted are ultimately scraped back by the courts when investigations and indictments are brought by a future justice department. otherwise, the idea that there is a rule of law in this country that no one is above the law will simply be an empty slogan. we have to give meaning to it, and the only way we can give meaning to it is to limit the abuse of the pardon power. we have never seen anything remotely like it. the president wielding the

pardon power, not as an instrument of mercy, but as a form of cover up, of continuation of an ongoing obstruction of justice. >> so you mentioned sean hannity, and you know, trying to advocate this trump to pardon himself. you have been clear in conversations with me that you don't think this is possible. but you know, he is not alone. matt gates, congressional ally of the president, there are others, right, who are pushing him to do this. let me just play hannity quickly for a second and give you a chance to respond. >> sure. go ahead. >> the president out the door needs to pardon his whole family and himself because they want this witch hunt to go on in perpetuity. >> i tell trump pardon yourself and pardon your family. >> again, you're saying the facts show this can not be done? >> well, it's never been tried, but the fact is that if you read the constitution and most of these people claim to have at least glanced at it, it makes very clear, and i'm going to quote the language of article

one, section 3, clause 7. it says even a president impeached, convicted unremoved, quote shall nevertheless be subject and liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law. now, that couldn't possibly work if a president could just pardon himself. the whole constitution presupposes that granting pardons involves pardoning somebody other than yourself. so this whole myth that a president could pardon himself which flies in the face of hundreds of years of history, even the pope can't pardon himself. recently, pope francis confessed to i forgot which cardinal it was, but he can't pardon himself, the idea of a self-pardon is a contradiction in terms, but the only way we can test that is for a future justice department to investigate and if there is

evidence of crime, and it looks like there's plenty of evidence of crime, prosecute donald trump. that way when he pleads pardon in defense of his prosecution, that will be tested in the courts all the way up to the supreme court. i'm not about to predict what a trump inflected supreme court would do, but he's basically daring the next justice department to prosecute him by saying i'm going to pardon myself. that will invite exactly the accountability that i think we may well need, and even though president-elect biden has said he's going to leave it to the justice department, i can't imagine, the attorney general saying oh, well, you've pardoned yourself, i'm not going to ask the courts whether that pardon is valid. >> professor, thank you very much. i appreciate your time tonight. thank you, erin. and i want go straight to al schmidt, a philadelphia city commissioner, a republican, one

of the republicans who has stood up to president trump on these basele baseless claims of election fraud. president attacked you for your comments and you and your family, i know, have received multiple death threats. i am really sorry. you're out there trying to do your job and count the votes and handle this appropriately, so i am -- it's horrible to hear this. let me just give you a chance to explain where you are, and i know you heard gabe sterling a moment ago out of georgia. you have been saying all along you saw no evidence of widespread election fraud, and bill barr has come out today and said you're right, he looked, and he hasn't seen any either. your reaction? >> well, it's big news but it's really just a reality check. i mean, there have been all of these allegations of massive or widespread voter fraud, and if that's the case, then they should be at least be able to cite a single case of it. and any of the state and federal lawsuits filed in pennsylvania,

and as of yet, there have been none. >> so commissioner, gabriel sterling, i mentioned him, he's a republican. you know, he's the voting manager in georgia, right, so he's been out with his excel spreadsheets counting these votes. he voted for trump. he says biden won his state. those are the facts and the numbers. he just came out a moment ago with this message from president trump after election workers there have been receiving death threats, i'm sure like the ones you have received. here's what mr. sterling just said. >> you need to step up and say this, stop inspiring people to commit acts of violence. someone's going to get hurt. someone's going to get shot. someone's going to get killed, and it's not right. it's not right. >> he calls the president out directly for his silence. you have received death threats for doing your job, for defending the integrity of the election. how concerned are you about what we're hearing right now and about the president's -- well, it's more than silence because he's putting all of these

baseless things out there, but what he's doing? >> well, it's especially concerning since what we're doing should be very not controversial. we are counting votes cast by eligible voters on or before election day, and yet the response is one of threats of violence and is one that even more disturbingly is trying to undermine confidence in the electoral process in the united states. >> so it comes as the trump campaign attorney joe digenova, you obviously heard this but he called for chris krebs, the cyber security official who was fired by trump but he was the guy who was in charge of keeping the election safe. he came out and defended the integrity of the election. he said that it was an election of integrity, and here is what joe digenova said.

he said he should be shot. >> anybody who thinks that this election went well like that idiot crebs who used to be the head of cyber security. >> the guy on 60 minutes last night. >> that guy is a class a moron, he should be drawn and quartered, taken out at dawn and shot. he came out with a statement, it was obvious my remarks were sarcastic and made in jest. i of course wish mr. crebs no harm. what do you say to that, i mean, how much damage is being done here by people going out and feeling like they can say stuff like this. he says it's in jest, first of all, it didn't sound that way at all. secondly, you're getting real death threats. >> i think and i wish people would be mindful of what they're saying and how it is that people are receiving what they're saying. like a lot of these people that they're listening to are liars. they are lying to them. they know they're lying to them.

that's a very important thing, i think. it's just do the people listening to all of this know they're being lied to? do they want to be lied to? i don't know why anyone would ever want that, but, you know, a lot of people are upset about the outcome of this election and that's a totally different matter from whether we're talking about legitimate votes that are cast by eligible voters on or before election day. being upset about the outcome doesn't justify any of this. the allegations that these people are making are completely unsupported. every single one oof these case filed in federal court in pennsylvania has been thrown out quote without any merit. at all. and i just don't get it. i don't get the hunger to be lied to like this. >> all right. well, commissioner schmidt, i appreciate your time.

thank you for coming on, and making sure people understand and having the courage to do that. especially given what you're going through. thank you. and next we have breaking news out of the cdc, an advisory board has just voted on who should receive the coronavirus vaccines first. what you need to know from a doctor who just cast his vote on that board. he's out front next. plus a potential breakthrough on a coronavirus relief bill, a bipartisan group of senators now with a framework. the thing is will it go anywhere. record money pouring into the runoff in georgia, when outsiders get involved, is that the kiss of death for democrats? erin burnett "out front," sponsored by cologuard colon cancer screening made easy. i'm noninvasive and detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers... ...even in early stages. tell me more. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer,

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and at fidelity, you'll get planning and advice to help you prepare for the future, without sacrificing what's most important to you today. because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction you're moving is forward. breaking news, 2,324 people died of coronavirus so far in the united states today reported in the u.s. today. 725 tonight. this is the 22nd day ever that the united states has added more than 2,000 new deaths and it comes as vaccine advisers at the cdc just issued their recommendations for who should receive the coronavirus vaccine first. health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities are at the top of the list. there are 21 million health care workers, 3 million living in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. it is expected there will be 40 million vaccine doses by the end of the year, and it's two dose for each person, about a month

apart to even get the full vaccination, so obviously need to double those numbers. and that obviously is a big part of what is there. out front now, a member of the committee which voted today on who will receive the vaccine first, dr. robert atmar, a member of the cdc's advisory committee, a professor of infectious diseases at baylor college. these are tough things to do because decisions have to be made, why did you decide that health care workers and long-term care facility residents should indeed be formally prioritized first? >> so thank you for having me tonight. the decision for health care personnel to be in the first group to receive the vaccine i think was a relatively easy decision for me and the rest of the members of the committee.

health care personnel are on the front lines taking care of patients, and protecting them in this time of pandemic is particularly important and so almost every group that has weighed in on who should receive the vaccine first has identified health care personnel at the top of the list. what was a little bit more difficult for me was the decision on residents of long-term care facilities. certainly this is a group that suffers the greatest burden of disease, 40% of the deaths in the u.s. have been among persons in long-term care facilities, and i think that information persuaded me to add them to the list of the initial group to receive the vaccine. >> and i know even though obviously there hasn't been a lot of testing on them, so i know that, you know, there are

questions about that, but obviously you came to the conclusion that that was the right thing to do. so who, then, is in the next group because obviously when you look through this, you do see that, you know, people who are older or people with preexisting conditions aren't on either one of those first two lists. >> right. so we had to prioritize which persons we would start with in vaccinating. we have had discussions up to this point about which groups will be next. although we have not formally made recommendations and part of that, i think, will be guided by the information we hear about each vaccine, each of the vaccines that are being considered for emergency use authorization. and in our meeting last week, groups 1 b and 1 c, so today we talked about 1 a, but 1 b were

essential workers. that would include teachers, people in law enforcement, firefighters and a variety of other groups, and then 1c would be persons with underlying conditions who are at higher risk of developing complications or dying should they get covid-19. and that would include persons over the age of 65. >> so all of this, though, adds up to time. i mean, you know, you have all of these -- i know not just the logistical issues of distributing a vaccine, and one of the vaccines obviously has to be kept at incredibly cold temperatures. you have to have people agree to take it. it's a month apart, and you have this staggered. this does sound like, as you organize it, and it is going to take time. >> that's right. and that's important for your viewers to understand that what we're doing is making recommendations about how to allocate and prioritize the

vaccine use so that the various health jurisdictions can plan for that and initially they'll plan for vaccinating health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, and then as we consider each of the vaccines that in turn, there will be additional recommendations coming forward about how to prioritize those groups and it will be a list of rolling recommendations over time as we get more vaccine that can be distributed to the public. >> dr. atmar, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> it's been a pleasure. thank you. and also breaking this hour, the first shipment of pfizer's coronavirus vaccine will be delivered to the states in just two weeks. that is according to an operation warp speed document that we have obtained tonight. we have an exclusive first look, though, inside a facility that's going to be crucial to transporting this vaccine across

the country. this is the one to be kept at those incredibly cold temperatures, pete muntean is out front at dulles international airport. tell us what you're seeing there. >> reporter: this is something you typically would not see. this is essentially one big refrigerator that united airlines will use to keep the vaccine cold. what it is, indeed, time to distribute the vaccine. airlines will be a critical part of the distribution, maybe take the vaccine the furthest in the supply chain to get it delivered to you. the really challenging part is keeping the vaccine cold enough. it is 40 degrees fahrenheit in here, but the moderna vaccine requires that it be negative 4 degrees fahrenheit. pfizer's vaccine about negative 100 degrees fahrenheit and require a special freezer. this is a key link from getting the vaccine from where it's made to getting it to you. airlines and air cargo companies are already using special

refrigerated containers like this to carry pharmaceuticals. no actual vaccine in here, although earlier at dulles international airport, we did see a united flight off loaded some of these refrigerated containers. united is flying the vaccine for pfizer on charter flights. it's in a task force for months. american airlines is starting vaccine distribution trial flights. ubs, dhl, fedex will all get in on this when the vaccine is ready to be distributed. the faa is even giving special waivers so airlines and air cargo companies can carry extra dry ice on board in order to keep the vaccine cold enough on the airplane. you know, airlines have been struggling in a big way in this pandemic. air travel down about 60% compared to a year ago. they cannot wait for a vaccine, and now airlines could be central to getting it to you. erin. >> pete, thank you very much. everyone has so many questions about that, especially that cold

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tonight president-elect joe biden formally introducing the economic team that will help him, he says rebuild the economy. >> from the most unequal economic and job crisis in modern history. we can build a new american economy that works for all americans, not just some. all. our message to everybody struggling right now is this. help is on the way. >> biden nominated former fed chair janet yellen for treasury secretary. neera tanden, think tank for center for american progress, and cecilia rouse, to chair the white house council of economic

advisers: one thing his team made clear in the announcement is they will be focusing on workers, they say, not corporations. >> i have spent my career trying to make sure people can work and achieve the dignity and self-worth that comes with it. >> i believe that's what public service is all about at its best, making sure that our economy works not just for the wealthy but for the hard working people who make it run. >> excited to get to work, helping build an economy, rooted in the values that we share. a quality, opportunity and the dignity of work. >> however, the "wall street journal" editorial board is criticizing the team writing quote that obama veterans who believe in more spending, more regulation, higher taxes and easier money. out front now, douglas holz e kin, chief economist of the council of economic advisers and austin goldsby, former chair of economic advisers for president obama. what do you say to the "wall

street journal"? >> well, i mean, their complaint is that these were the obama people? i mean -- >> and this is more spending, more regulation, higher taxes and easier money, that's their quote. >> yeah, what i would say is donald trump came in with a philosophy, which was let's cut taxes for high income people, big corporations by $2 trillion. promise that that would pay for i itself, promise that it would lead to man na from heaven, massive increase in investment, massive increase in growth. none of those things happened, and it took them two and a half years to end the longest boom in the history of the u.s. economy. so i think when you got double digit millions of people unemployed, you've had a massive downturn of gdp and a president was just defeated and will be replaced by a president-elect who campaigned on let's stop the k shaped recovery. let's help working people, and let's not orient our policy

around billionaires, i think there's going to be a change. the sheriff is changing, for sure they're going to do something different and i think that's what they should do? >> doug? >> i have a lot of sympathy for the "wall street journal's" critique of what went on in the obama administration. i have had some of the same comments myself but i think they're missing a big point, which is this is a seasoned group of economists, policy makers and they're going to be smart enough to recognize that this isn't like the financial crisis recession, this is a recession unlike any other in u.s. history. it's going to require a different approach to get the economy recovering again, to take care of the long-term unemployed, which are a pressing issue right now, and in the end they shouldn't be judged on who they are, they should be judged on what they do. that's what we're going to look for. >> the tax plan says that it will do is increase taxes on big corporations. trump slashed them more than they thought they would get. he slashed it to 21%.

biden's plan would call that to go up by a full third, 33%. so that raises a lot of money, but there are some who say a 33% increase in taxes on corporations is going to cause a lot of problems for wages and hiring. what do you say to them? >> well, the 33%, that's not -- the rate would go to 28%. that's right in the middle of the largest economies in the world. that's a totally reasonable rate. it's the kind of rates that we've had in the united states throughout history. all i will say is that you've got something like 20% of the fortune 500 paying no taxes and you have seen none of the promised benefits from the massive $2 trillion tax cut that were promised by donald trump, so i guess i don't see the argument that if we have a system where the president

himself can be a billionaire and pay $700 in taxes that we should not change the system, we should leave it how it is because to not do so would screw everything up. >> doug, so what is the right way to look at it? that it's a 33% increase that they're putting out, which is one way, it's accurate, or austin's way, which is also accurate which is to say it's 28%, right in the middle of the average out there, and therefore not an issue? which is the right way to see it? . >> the math isn't the problem. it's the economic logic. i mean, one of the big issues that we face year after year, prior to 2017 was the mass exodus of u.s. headquartered firms, and this solved it. we don't see that anymore. it stopped overnight. to move from 21% to 28% puts us more toward the back of the pack in our developed competitors, we run the risk of sending the firms overseas, and the reality is workers work in firms and, wiwe can't be losing them. one of the most potent impacts you can have on the economy is a

discretionary tax increase or cut. it makes no sense as a matter of discretion raise taxes when you're trying to dig out of a hole this deep. i think it's very unwise, and i hope his team advises him not to do this right now. >> we'll hit pause. thank you both as always. a top republican official in georgia calling out the president for inciting acts of violence against election workers. trump campaign now responding. and dr. anthony fauci with a warning about the dangers americans will be facing in just the next few weeks. ♪ (laughter) ♪

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breaking news, the trump campaign just responding to an emotional plea from a top republican official in georgia, a plea directly to president trump. that official gabriel sterling calling out trump for doing nothing as his allies incite violence against election workers. >> mr. president, you have not condemned these actions or this language. >> and the president hasn't. the trump campaign tonight saying quote no one should engage in threats or violence, and if that has happened, we condemn that fully. kyung lah is out front.

>> kelly loeffler knows she's lying. >> raphael warnock hates puppies. >> reporter: in the hyperpartisan battle for the georgia senate seats, there is uniform agreement about this. >> they're on, i would think, 75% of the time, every commercial is an ad, a campaign ad. >> it's too much. it is too much. >> oh, my god, i'm tired of it. >> reporter: we can't even get through our interview. there's another one. >> it's too redundant, if you will. i mean, i get tired of seeing people bashing people. >> reporter: they should all prepare for more. >> jon ossoff has dedicated his career to fighting justice. >> reporter: democratic candidate j candidate. >> if we vote like our lives

depend on it, because we do. >> reporter: it is the latest in a flurry of new ads on georgia's airways, ossoff's opponent is perdue. >> reporter: other republican incumbent, kelly loeffler is attacking her opponent. reverend warnock, and alvin the beagle responded. >> i think georgians will see the ads for what they are, don't you? >> reporter: told ad spending, including reservations through the january 5th runoff crossed $300 million. spending by the incumbents and republican backers topped the democrats by $50 million. the georgia runoffs are far and away the most expensive senate races of the 2020 cycle. >> money absolutely matters rr b. >> reporter: brendan fisher offers this warning with georgia's ad war. >> voters are exhausted.

they have just been through a hotly contested presidential race. they just voted in november. and they may not be motivated to vote again in january. >> reporter: especially says waitress kaylee waters when she's just trying to survive financially during covid. >> it doesn't make sense. we're in the middle of a pandemic kyung, pretty powerful words there. how could these emotional comments we heard from gabe sterlings and they were poignant emotional. >> reporter: what he's trying to say is come on give me something. he's asking the candidate to say something. we are hearing from perdue and

loeffler. of course, we condemn violence, we continue to call for review of the election process here in georgia. there has been no evidence of any wrong doing in georgia in the election process. >> erin. >> thank you very much. he called it the most secure election georgia ever had. i want to bring in our former campaign manager for stacey abrams. let me ask you what we heard from gabe sterlings. a remarkable press conference

today. he directly said mr. president, we are not trying to stop this and calling out republicans saying that someone could get hurt and someone could be killed because of what is happening. when you heard gabe sterlings' words, what was happening? >> thank you for having me erin. >> unfortunately, this is not new. it is extreme radical group in georgia. we had many issues during the campaign that we took seriously. we agree with gabe that nobody should be threatening violence. he and his family is getting threatened. this is despicable.

they're going to elevate small issues in the elections, use the president's mega bomb to blow these issues up. he laid it out clearly in september of 2019. it was mahorror and many member of the republican party including the secretary of state said that narrative by launching voter fraud task forces and threatening prosecutors to go after voters. we stand firmly against all calls of violence and workers, election officials just trying to do their jobs. we are calling the republican

party to shut down this narrative and move ahead with the truth to their supporters and my last comment on this, eric erickson who i don't agree on much had a twitter rant that talked about the lies that this party and this president has infected the american people. this is something stacey and i had a lot of experience with. >> lauren, let me ask you, have you heard some of those fellow georgians saying they are exhausted. when you look at money, money did not help democrats and those 2020 senate races, right? when you saw what happened in

south carolina and north carolina, in your neighborhood. it did not work. democrats lost. are you worried this could happen in georgia? >> politics is complicated. but we are actually one of the few states that donald trump spent. the campaign and organization and so many local organizations run excellent programs. all the tv advertising and that sort of noise, that's one part of the campaign. what i am looking at is what democrats are doing right now. democrats are in a massive battle. they're fighting among themselves, they're not agreeing on their own officials that the general election is over, they're making this all with no actual agenda. what democrats are doing? they are voting.

there are more democrats who requested mail ballots today than republicans have requested from the general election. voters are voting. democrats are voting. warnot and jon ossoff are out on the trail. >> thank you very much. i appreciate your time. the united states now hitting a new record high for coronavirus hospitalizations at this hour. more than 98,000 are currently in the hospital. dr. fauci says avoid holiday gatherings. >> that seems to be unfortunate ma marking the new year and the hanukkah season and christmas. that's the perfect set up for people who may have no symptoms and accidentally and inadvertedly coming into the

home and infect someone. >> that warning as first lady melania trump hosted in-door party for dozens volunteers who help decorate the white house. dr. jonathan rhiner. how dangerous is it to be hosting this in the white house. more than one american every single minute. yet they're going to have an in-door party. we are in a crisis, almost 2500 americans died today. almost 99,000 americans are hospit hospitalized. everyday the number goes up by 2 thousands. every year we look forward to

events. it is cancelled this year because we are in a pandemic. you can't have parties and bring people together and feed them food and drink and have them mingling without masks. the virus will spread. the white house already have super spreader events. they should have no more. >> this is coming as the vice president and president are heading to georgia right now. they're going to georgia to campaign for the run-off. two large events where there is a few spiking covid cases, highest levels in months. so what do you say now? first of all, it violates georgia's law. governor kemp limits outdoor events to a maximum of 50 people

if you can social distance and there is no trump events where people social distance. a stanford study from a couple of months ago looked at 18 rally held between july and september and found that about 30,000 cases of coronavirus generated by those rallies and perhaps up to 700 deaths. these events have consequences. one wonders what the real reason for the president traveling to georgia. is it really the campaign or is it to do some first aid on his critically injured ego. bringing the circus to town is a bad idea right now. the virus is raging. >> dr. riner, thank you very much. >> more than 2,000 americans have died from coronavirus. thanks very much to all of you. our coverage continues with anderson cooper, ac 360.

good evening, two stories dominate the news tonight. at least two effective vaccines against coronavirus. officials meet today who gets the vaccine first. we begin with other big story which is all about something that surrounds it. the deaths are running at a rate of one in every one minute. you may think that should be any president's greatest concerns right now. instead the man is occupied with the white house and what i am sad to say a con game over the election he lost. how is it a con game? well, the president is pedaling the idea it is not true. in exchange, he's taking their money about $170 million which is small dollar donor that's going to legal expensesin