americans were eager to show their patriotism. >> the medical community was very, very concerned by that, urged the public health or to call the parade off. >> he had specifically been told in a meeting two days before by doctors not to allow it to go on. he was a political appointee. philadelphia had at that time a notoriously rather corrupt government, and he was not willing to go up against the bosses. so he went ahead with this. >> there were hundreds of thousands of people in the street packed close together, shouting and singing songs. and like clockwork, 48, 72 hours later, the disease exploded in philadelphia. >> just one piece of a much broader film.

cnn's special report "pandemic: how a virus changed the world in 1918," it airs saturday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern time. just a reminder, about an hour from now, cnn's don lemon and dr. sanjay gupta are hosting a special town hall "the color of covid: the vaccines." dr. anthony fauci and surgeon general jerome adams will be there to answer your questions. now the news continues. so let's hand it over to chris for "cuomo prime time." >> thank you very much, john. i am chris cuomo and welcome to "prime time." the moderna vaccine is now authorized for emergency use. but will we be able to get it to the people who need it in time? and a government shutdown has been averted for at least two days. but will congress get money to the hungry before christmas? these questions demand answers and action from the people who have the honor of doing our business. we must demand those answers and action. again, why aren't we being given the facts and figures about

where the vaccine is going? why doesn't anyone seem to know who's supposed to give us that data? and what is so important to haggle over on this relief bill that is important enough to risk not getting money to hard-hit hungry families for christmas? remember, this isn't a battle about how big the budgets are and who gets how big of a tax cut, so you play it up to the brink, brinkmanship. this is survival. let mow show you today in fort worth, texas. look at this. look at the line. you know what that's for? it's not a line for xboxes. food. lines like this all over the richest country in the world, hours and hours on line to get food.

the poverty rate in our country is now 11.7%. a census survey shows more than 85 million of us live in households where money is scarce. almost a third expect someone in their home to lose their income in the next four weeks. kids, kids in this country aren't just dreaming of an xbox or an essie bike, which you can't find anywhere anyway. america is quickly becoming a nation of tiny tims, asking santa for food, asking santa for protection from covid so mom or dad or both can go back to work. this isn't about just outrage. it's not about anger. it's just about pain. how does this reality not hurt you, not hurt you enough to demand better and more? it pains me so deeply that with

all my access to tv and radio, i haven't moved anyone from the madness of this moment and inaction. we have to demand that people blocking relief tell you why. it's not okay to play it up to the last second to get the best deal, not now. senator ron johnson held hearings about irregularities that he knows are fake, and now the retrumplican refuses to address pain he knows is real. you don't like the criticism? come on and tell me. tell us why $1,200 stimulus checks are not necessary. >> we will not have learned the lessons from our very hurried, very rushed, very massive earlier relief packages. we're going to just do more of the same. another trillion dollars. we are mortgaging our children's future without reforms, without targeting. so, mr. president, i object.

>> so you're worried about it being not well thought out and not a good use of money. the national debt, you're worried about it. but you weren't worried with that fat, unpaid tax cut for the top 1%, right? i didn't see you holding your hands out like a preacher on that one. but now in a crisis, now you find an appetite for austerity. and where is the president, who used to pride himself on the best economy ever, best deal maker ever? he will leave with an economy on the brink. he is obsessed trying to illegitimately keep power, and yet he doesn't use the power he currently legitimately has. our intelligence agencies are reeling from the scope and scale of a suspected russian hack. they still don't know how deep putin's pawns got into our government. where is the trump who said this? >> nobody's been tougher on russia that i have, ever.

you can ask putin. nobody's been rougher on russia than donald trump, okay? there's nobody been tougher on russia than i have. by the way, nobody's been tougher on roussia than me. and nobody has been tougher with russia than donald trump. >> no one tougher. so why are you silent? although thinking more about it, silent may be better than trump pushing his last idea. remember this doozy? he wanted to work with russia on cybersecurity in 2017, forming a unit. this was an idea even his boy senator lindsey graham called pretty close to the dumbest idea i've ever heard. that takes us to this, this image, right? when it first happened, this was just awkward. now it is instructive. this is a depiction of trump's efforts to literally choke out our democracy with election

nonsense. fortunately he has no proof, and we have strong institutions. so his chances of wringing the life out of our democracy is as small as his hands. he was impeached a year ago today. imagine what history will say about a presidency where an impeachment was not the most scandalous aspect. we have the lawmaker who led the impeachment effort, the chairman of the house intelligence committee. i want to talk about russian attack. i want to talk about the chance of relief before christmas, and what happens when congress meets to certify the electoral vote on january 6th. and those are all good questions for congressman adam schiff, democrat, california. welcome back, sir. >> thank you. good to see you. >> so let's start with the hack. do you believe, and what can you share with the audience about reason to believe it was russia and reason to believe it is worth all the worry we're hearing projected from the intel

agencies? >> well, let me start with the second question. is it worth all the worry, and the answer is yes. this is a massive hack of our national security infrastructure, our critical infrastructure, both private and public sectors. it was done in a very sophisticated way. it will take weeks, months, perhaps even longer to know the full extent of the losses. it will be very hard to purge this foreign bad actor from those systems because the tradecraft is so advanced. and one of the things that we need to consider when we look at the depth of the loss here is what else has this actor done? now, if it's russia -- and i'm not at this point able to make attribution. but if it is russia, then you have to consider it with other russian hacks and attacks in the past, both in terms of, you know, how little deterred they are from interfering or acting

through the cyberspace to go after us. but also whatever data they may have been able to exfiltrate would be combined with other data that they've stolen, and that has an additive impact using big data analytics both in terms of restricting our intelligence capabilities, in terms of the privacy of americans, in terms of potential theft of trade secrets and corporate data, as well as risks to our infrastructure. >> congressman, are the republicans and the democrats really playing this relief bill down to the wire, just typical brinkmanship even in the middle of a crisis? is this really just about getting the best deal? >> you know, i think where this all starts out, chris, because as you know, we introduced a follow-on bill six months ago, and it sat on mitch mcconnell's desk until after the election. the reason why it's been so hard to get to an agreement is more than half of the republicans in

the senate -- and those are mitch mcconnell's constituents -- are like ron johnson. they don't want to do anything more. they had no problem spending $2.2 trillion on a tax cut for very wealthy families and large corporations. but extending unemployment, they're not particularly interested. small businesses, you know, they don't pay the campaign bills, so they're not particularly interested. and so mitch mcconnell felt if he brought it up before the election, it would divide his conference. and so he put it off until after the election. and now i think the outcry has been sufficient. he feels compelled to act. but, you know, they want to keep this as small as they can, and that's why we've -- you know, this has been so drawn out, and i think it's a terrible travesty when people are hurting as much as they are. >> you think it gets done before christmas? >> oh, yeah. no, i think it will be done this weekend. you know, i think the political heat is too great on mcconnell

now. he's talking in a different way than he was before the election. so, yes, i think we're going to get this done within the next 24 to 48 hours. >> life doesn't work this way, but it can be beneficial for analysis. if two months ago you knew what you now know about where this was going to wind up, would you have pushed to take a deal sooner just to get something to these people sooner? >> you know, i think that frankly getting something sooner, even if it's smaller, is probably more important than waiting longer and getting a little bit more. but i'll tell you this, chris. what we're going to do in the next 24 to 48 hours is absolutely not going to be enough, and it will be important in the new administration to come back and give, you know, a level of relief commensurate with the economic catastrophe. and the republicans are already signaling good luck with that. but the national need is going to be so great because, you know, as we all know, we're in

the midst of this dark winter, and things are going to get tougher before they get better. they will get better, but there are going to be lots of businesses that are permanently out of business if we don't act before then. >> i'm with you. i just hope the lesson is learned that if you're just talking budget priorities and which agencies get what, i get why you're trying to maximize policy prospects. but in an emergency, something's better than nothing. so unless -- go ahead. please respond. >> i completely agree with you, chris. the difficulty is if you've ever been in a negotiation where the other side doesn't want to do anything, it's very tough to do something meaningful. and we do need to do something meaningf meaningful. we don't want just a fig leaf or a band-aid when people are suffering as much as they are. >> when it's not good enough for something, when you need everything is january 6th. do you think there is a legitimate chance that everybody will wind up voting on whether or not to certify the electoral

college? do you think there's a chance republicans will break rank in the house and the senate and put it to a vote? >> i think there will certainly be republicans in the house like mo brooks that want to make a statement. they want to demonstrate how infatuated they are with donald trump and willing to do anything for donald trump. i do think that it's strongly in mitch mcconnell's interest that no senator supports that because if one senator does and he forces the other senators to go on record, either doing their constitutional duty and confronting the president or, you know, voting for the president on the basis of completely fraudulent claims, that's a terrible situation for mcconnell to put his people in, particularly some of his marginal senators who are going to be in tough midterms. so i think in this case, mitch mcconnell's going to do the right thing, maybe not for the right reason, but he's going to do the right thing because he doesn't want his senators to

have to make that kind of a vote. >> you know, when you have a year where an election doesn't even mention the fact that the sitting president has been impeached, it really tells you that you've had a tough year. what do you think the lesson of 2020 is for you as a leader? >> well, first of all, i think you're absolutely right. the reason why the impeachment seems so long ago is we've lost 300,000 americans since then because of the incompetence of this administration. we've had the worst performance during the pandemic of any nation on earth. and so that tragedy really just subsumes everything else. but, you know, we did warn -- i have to say, although we didn't know the proportion, that if republicans found him guilty -- and many acknowledged that he was guilty but still voted to acquit, that he could do enormous harm to the country in between then and months later when the election came. but the damage hasn't ended with the pandemic. what he is doing now, what 126

of my republican colleagues shamefully joined, is the most serious anti-democratic effort to overturn an election to install the president, even though he lost, and that is just further damage to our democracy. >> i'll leave you in case i don't see you between now and the new year. i wish you and your family the best, and i'll leave you with a tip. this effort -- it's not under your purview right now. well, it is as a member of congress but not your committee. this distribution of this vaccine is going to be a problem. nobody even knows -- and i'm not going to put you on the spot because you're not supposed to know. it's not your committee's oversight. but nobody even knows who is deciding who gets what, congressman, let alone how it really gets there. i know perna is a trustworthy general who is the coo of ows, of operation warp speed. but i'm telling you i'm hearing from states and i'm hearing from people in and around the administration that they don't

know why there are shortfalls. they don't know what the plan is of how you get things out. it's going to be a problem. it is going to demand attention. >> chris, you're absolutely right. i mean and the first priority, of course, is to make sure all the states and all the families and individuals get the vaccine as soon as possible and that they take it and that we fight all of the misinformation that will be out there. but when it's all over, we really need a 9/11-like commission to analyze independently, objectively everything that went wrong in the handling of this pandemic. >> congressman adam schiff, thank you for making the time. if i don't see you, again, i wish you the best for the new year. we all need it. >> and you as well. >> thank you, sir. all right. the good news, a second vaccine, the moderna vaccine, the fruit of operation warp speed -- remember, pfizer didn't take the money. operation warp speed gave money to moderna. so now that vaccine has been authorized. does it even have the same

safety constraints? so good news. could see people getting it in days. could. why? because we don't know what the hell is going on with the distribution. there are already confusion and problems. why? people can't tell us why. they can't tell us what's happening. they can't tell us who's supposed to tell us what's happening. you've been hearing about this vaccine and which one you should get and which needs two doses or not. i know that's running around the internet. we're going to talk to you about that. do we really know that one dose could be enough? i'm going to take it up with a top medical mind, next. service at the ready. at mercedes-benz, it's not just a job, it's our mission. from our expert technicians armed with state of the art tools and technology, to genuine parts made for the perfect fit. whether it's our place... ...or yours. we're there. rain or shine, day or night. no one knows your vehicle better.

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otezla. show more of you. so a massive new report on the pandemic from hhs shows we all need to demand better when it comes to the vaccination effort. they're already saying this, okay? the report proves that team trump spent months hiding massive amounts of data, knowingly lying while people died, okay? now, why is it only coming out now? good question. but at least it came out. it is the most complete picture of the pandemic that we've seen from the feds in the nine months we've all been trying to figure out what the hell is going on. page after page of data, and it only proves that trumpers had

this the whole time. sat on it for months. why? well, one, trump thought the less you say about the pandemic, the better chance it doesn't really matter, the better chance it doesn't hurt the economy, the better chance he wins. and, second, i really believe that what we learned from an hhs staffer in that email, they wanted herd immunity. so they didn't care about pushing the right message about prophylaxis, masks, social distancing. having those rallies. what's the downside? specifically you look in florida. governor desantis, mini me, right, for trump. just forced to release reports he's been getting from the white house coronavirus task force. forced to release them. forced to be transparent. why? the orlando sentinel quotes the task force insisting florida

must re-establish strong mitigation statewide, and efforts should continue to include wearing masks in public, avoiding or eliminating the opportunities for maskless crowding in public, including bars. but bars are open in florida, and desantis went out of his way to weaken mask rules. it's because of horrible decisions like that, that we have to do better when it comes to the vaccine, especially given that even more states are now saying they aren't getting what they were promised, and they don't even know who to blame. we showed you when idaho was first to raise a flag. last night it was six states. now at least 18 states. the least keeps growing. the reality is now shouting from headlines, on the local level, governors from both parties get no more answers from the white house than we do. >> at this time it's not clear

to us why the shipment amounts have been adjusted. we're certainly frustrated. >> i still cannot get a straight answer out of the trump administration about why michigan, like many other states, is receiving a fraction of the vaccines that we are slated to receive. >> to show you how frustrating it is to get a straight answer out of the feds, the cdc's own so-called vaccine tracker only shows allotments for each state. how many doses are they scheduled to get? not how many have actually been delivered. so this doesn't really tell me what they've done. it just tells me what somebody had suggested they might do. even then, the cdc's numbers don't square with what the states say they're being told is coming. so where did that original number come from? the states say, well, we gave them that number. so hold on a second. so the states told the fed, this is what we need, and that was their base number. but that's not what's scheduled

to now go to them, and in fact the states don't know what they're going to get. who made those decisions? here we go again. lack of leadership. so now it's the private sector is our best chance to try to figure out what's going on. johns hopkins is running its own tracker. but where are they going to goeget the data? even they can only focus on one part of the equation, how many doses are being administers. they only have data for a grand total of nine states. so 41 states aren't reporting? for all the celebrating those in the white house are doing about how quickly we got these vaccines approved -- and it is impressive. they deserve credit. but now do your damn job. the scientists made the vaccine, not you. you put up the money. you created the initiative, but this is where you're supposed to do the job. we must keep demanding answers. this is not nitpicking. i'm telling you we will waste the value of getting a vaccine as quickly as we did if we don't

distribute it just as quickly to those who need it. now, our next guest co-wrote an op-ed suggesting just one dose of a covid-19 vaccine may provide significant levels of protection from the virus. his name is dr. michael mina, and he joins us now. good to see you again, doc. >> thanks a lot. >> now, do you believe one dose is enough, or you think it may be enough maybe? >> i think we need to run trials to see if one dose will be enough. there was some tantalizing suggestions in the data that suggests that one dose might be enough. but to be very clear, we have to do the trials. right now the best evidence suggests that two doses is what we need to confer the appropriate amount of immunity. but we should start the trials today to see if one dose is enough so that we could

potentially accelerate the distribution of these vaccines across not just the united states but really across the whole globe. >> but once we have people getting vaccines, you probably won't know this answer anytime soon. what do you say to people who say, hey, listen, this was such a pain in the ass getting this vaccine, i'm just going to get one. they tell me it may be good enough anyway. what do you say to them? >> at this point i would say that all of the data suggests that we should be getting two doses. everyone who is getting a vaccine right now should absolutely plan to get their second dose. that -- if you want to be protected, that is what the data shows. and until we know better, it wouldn't be responsible for yourself or for the people around you to just get a single dose at this point. >> is there downside to getting two doses? is there a better chance you get sick from the vaccine or that something bad can happen? >> well, we've seen when you go to get your second dose, some people are getting more the response to the vaccine, the

inflammatory response and the immunological response is greater. that's how it's supposed to be. that's why we get the second dose. it boosts the immune response. but that also does come with some more sort of side effects, whether they be headaches or pain. but these generally are not severe. they're generally mild, and so we haven't seen any reason why the vast, vast majority of people should not at this point be planning on getting two doses. >> is one of these vaccines better than the other? >> i wouldn't want to say that. i think so far the data is almost identical to be honest. the pfizer vaccine and the moderna vaccine. there is a major difference, though, in that the moderna vaccine is going to hopefully have a better time being distributed. you know, all other things equal, the cold chain is not as serious for the moderna vaccine. >> are you suspicious at all at these problems with pfizer? do you think it's just because they're not part of operation warp speed, or do you think there's any reason to believe

that pfizer is being disadvantaged or not dealt with because the government prefers moderna? >> i don't -- i don't have the right information to answer that accurately, but i do think -- i'm not particularly suspicious of that. the i think that we need to get our logistics in place immediately to ensure that we can get all the vaccines out, and i'm watching same as you as we are seeing difficulties rolling these vaccines out, getting the right allotments to everyone. and i think that should be a concern. and like you said, we should have answers at this point. >> dr. michael mina, i appreciate it. as you see something that gives you a better indication of which way to go on one shot or two, let me know. i'll have you right back on. >> absolutely. let's bring in a member of president-elect biden's covid-19 task force, rick bright. you heard what we were just talking about with dr. mina. it's good to have you. good luck on what you're doing. the country needs you guys to do it well because it is not starting off well.

what do you make of michael mina's kind of hypothesis that maybe one shot will be enough? >> well, chris, thanks for having me back on. i would love for that to be true. it would simplify so many things. unfortunately they just did not evaluate that in the clinical trials, so we don't have enough information to know if one shot would give you a long duration of immunity or immunity that's optimized or fine-tuned to provide the most protection possible against the virus. so unless they test it in the clinical trial, we won't have that information or data. and short of that information, i think that we would be compromising the potential full immune response that we need from the vaccine to protect us from this virus. >> can't we just start a trial now? >> they could start a trial now. they could expand some of the clinical trials that they have ongoing now. there's a number of options that they can consider. of course that would take additional funds and resources and funds and resources for this

pandemic are in short supply as is vaccine right now. >> true. >> so a lot of discussions need to happen right now. >> but, rick, obviously i'm no clinician, but just simple math. if you were to find out that one shot's enough, you know, you cut in half how many -- how much vaccine you need. so that would mean you would double the amount of distribution you could do. >> that would mean you could double the amount of doses that you have, the amount of distribution you can do. but they do need to conduct those clinical studies, and you would have to show that, again, in a very large clinical study and a very diverse group. so it would take some time. i think in the meantime, chris, we need to focus on what we have in hand is manufacturing scaling up production of the vaccines we have so we can meet that two-dose capacity. we're seeing trouble already in staggering numbers, and that's quite concerning. that's where they should focus their attention is making more of what they can and getting it out of those freezers and into the arms of people.

you know, those vaccines in the freezer aren't doing anyone any good at all. i'm really concerned what i hear about those stories. we need to be vaccinating people urgently. >> a couple questions on that. one, do you know who is in charge of deciding which states get how much? >> i wish i did know that. i do not know that. you know, one of the things that we're missing a lot in this pandemic unfortunately is transparency. i don't know who to call, and i don't think the states actually know who to call to make -- >> i'm not blaming you because you're not in there yet. but how is somebody supposed to hear that right now? i mean your pedigree, they can just google you. you're no dummy. you're there for a reason, and we're lucky to have you. you are on biden's covid-19 task force, and you don't know. you're not alone. i spoke to five members of congress about this. they don't know. i talked to a member of operation warp speed. he didn't know who's making the

decision. what does that say? >> it says we have a lot of work to do. january 20th, we have a new team coming in. we need to get all the nuts and bolts in place. we need to make sure we have a smooth transition and a strategy in place, a national campaign to vaccinate people needs to be put together really quickly. transparency is critical not only for an efficient vaccination campaign but to build the trust from people that we need to line up to take the vaccine. so these questions further erode trust at a time when we should be celebrating, a time when vaccine is on the horizon, but people are hearing more questions, and it's not doing a lot yet to build their trust and confidence. and that's where we need to be investing our energy right now. >> we are going to vax track every day. time on the show is precious. we only have an hour, but i make you this pledge. i will let you come on whenever you want if you promise to give us the data about what is going where, into whom, so we can

track it from you to the states, so we can keep an eye on how this is done to make sure it's fair and efficient. deal? >> that's a deal, chris. >> rick, thank you very much. >> in the meantime, chris, wear your mask. remind everyone wear your mask this holiday season, please. >> wear your mask. distance when you can. if you don't have to travel, don't. i know that sucks for the holidays. believe me, i'm hearing it at home myself. but hopefully we're one and done on this and next year we have a different set of holidays. all the best to you and your family. >> absolutely. >> and good luck with the important work ahead. it couldn't matter more than it does. >> thanks, chris. >> be well. god bless. all right. now, what do we know about time being precious when it comes to certain sensitive government matters. another week gone by. no relief. why are they playing brinkmanship with a crisis? this isn't about how much money you're going to get for that military base in your home district. okay. so you stopped a shutdown. great. i'm glad you kept the government open. but why haven't you been able to

make a deal when it's christmas and people are starving? a senator knee deep in all of this wants to give you a window into how difficult it is to do the right thing. next. [ coughing ] [ gasping ] skip to cold relief fast with alka seltzer plus severe power fast fizz. dissolves quickly, instantly ready to start working. ♪ oh, what a relief it is so fast. to customizes yourcan gocar insurancetual.com so you only pay for what you need? really? i didn't-- aah! ok. i'm on vibrate. aaah! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ 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.

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can attack anywhere. get fast relief here with primatene mist. available over the counter for mild ashtma. primatene mist. breathe easy again. all right. for days now, lawmakers have said they're closing in on a covid relief deal. sounds a hell of a lot like the brinkmanship we have to deal with every time, right, even in a crisis, even with people hungry. they had hope. why? because the shutdown deadline that loomed tonight would kind of force them to do something. but for the second time in two weeks, they've passed what's called a stopgap measure, meaning they just bought themselves a little bit more time so they can keep talking, which means not getting it done, right? i want to bring in democratic senator joe manchin.

he's been spearheading these bipartisan efforts. welcome back to "prime time." i know you're busy. i know you're tired. thank you for keeping my audience in the loop. and, senator, my suspicion about this, that it does felony liel e ordinary brinkmanship, getting down to the wire. i don't know if we're going to make a deal. i hope we do. i hope we do. even with people hungry in the streets all over america, we're playing the same game? >> it's always good to be on with you and keep all the people apprised and the transparency that they should have. first of all, let me just show you. see this bill? this bill that we worked on a bipartisan, bicameral way was delivered on monday. this is a template of what should be put together and how we take care of the emergency needs of america. it's just an emergency till april 1. well, it's turned over to the four corners. now, when the four corners get it, that's the leadership in both the house and the senate. then you have them regurgitating

everything. maybe what they didn't want in or what they wanted in or what someone else has encouraged them to do. and they start finnicing with it, if you will. so you have four different staffs going at it. now, these staffs haven't gotten along that well over the period of time because it always comes to the end. let me tell you why it always comes to the end. it comes to the end in a deadline because it takes all of us out. it takes the majority of 100 senators out of play completely and left into the hands of a few. and that makes it almost impossible for us to have any input. so we delivered this on monday. this was a package that was put together by democrats and republicans, and we were hoping that this was a template. now, chuck schumer and the democrats have used this as a template, and i appreciate that very much. but for some reason, they've gone off in so many different areas. the federal crisis response powers is what's holding everything up right now, and i'm begging and pleading with my republican friends, my republican senator friends and

mitch mcconnell and the majority leader for the republicans, i'm pleading, please, this is not the place for that. it truly is politics. this has been in place since 2008 when we had the financial crisis. now, all of a sudden it comes in play. it's been in play for 12 years to where the federal reserve has the ability to infuse into the markets when needed to keep the market from collapsing and emergencies from happening. why all of a sudden because we have a change of an administration, president-elect joe biden going in, now it becomes a big deal. if you want to take this out, if you want to do this and talk about it, chris, let's wait until april after we get through our first quarter. this is strictly an emergency. >> what's their upside -- >> this is not a do all, end all. >> why does mcconnell want to get rid of that? do plain speak for me. what is that mechanism? why was it in place to help the markets? we know it was from 2009. why does he want that out, and why is he asking for it now?

what's his basis? >> i don't know unless it's just pure politics. it would take a tool away from the federal reserve with the biden administration going in. there's nothing the biden administration would do anything different than what's been done -- >> but what does it have to do with the pandemic? >> it has nothing to do with the pandemic. if anything, it will help the feds preserve a collapse. but i can't figure it out why this has come in. if that could be done away with, i guarantee you by tomorrow morning we'd have a deal. i think it's ready to be done. >> i never even heard of this before. when did they ask for this? >> this has been happening for the last three or four days. it came into play. we heard about it two days ago. never thought because it had nothing to do with any discussions any of us ever had, chris. and all of a sudden i'm hearing this is the thing. this is what's holding us up now. they want this out. and i said, why now? what has the feds done wrong? what have they abused? it's a tool to keep the market from collapsing. it allows the fed to inject if

need be. and that's all we've asked for, and that's what's been there since 2008. how come all of a sudden now, chris? >> you tell me. i thought he was worried about what was going to happen in georgia and they wanted to get a bill done before christmas. why would he put something in that would blow it up in. >> i'm just saying if someone has been basically misinformed, i'm begging my friends. we're asking for a relief package, an emergency relief package that the united states of america, my state of west virginia, all of the states need help. we're talking about shelter. we're talking about food. we're talking about unemployment assistance. we're talking about financial assistance basically for businesses that aren't going to make it. >> so it's not the liability waiver anymore? it's not the you don't get state and local funding. >> that's gone. liability is gone. >> it's not state and local? >> yeah, it's not -- we knew it was -- you know, state and local and liability was a big hangup. that's why we separated, chris. now they want to do direct payments. at first they were going to take

money away from the people that had none. so this has been a big thing. you've been seeing some of my senate colleagues on the floor raising cane about why they had to have more money direct payments. everybody wants to get a check. but don't you think it's an emergency and a crisis if you're going to lose your unemployment? >> yeah. >> to feed your family and keep a roof over your head? that's the unemployment emergency we're dealing with. but, nope, they have to send checks out. i said i'm all for it, but in an emergency, can't we come back basically the first of the year and see what it takes to stimulate the market and send checks then if that really is what it takes? i just can't figure this out, how these priorities -- you know, it makes no sense. we dealt strictly, and i'll tell you again, strictly -- all we dealt with was the emergencies. now they've thrown everything in, and now on top of that, to say, well, we got to get rid of the federal crisis response powers because that's harming -- what is it harming? it gives the federal reserve the ability to keep the markets from collapsing and we're still in a pandemic.

it has nothing to do with it. so i'm asking everybody, if you want a bill and get it done, call our republican friends, please. these are all good people. there's some reason it's got everybody ticked off. it makes no sense at all. but please call them. say, put that off to february or march. fight about it then. let this package go. that's all we're asking for. >> so it's not even that the democrats are holding out for the $1,200 checks, and that's what the tension is? >> no. >> you're saying the new point of tension is something that has nothing to do with the pandemic? >> that's it, brother. that is -- i can't tell it any clearer than that, chris. >> and did it come from mcconnell or just appeared? >> it came from -- it came from one of the senators, one of my friends that we did a bill together, and still my friend. i don't know why he's all fired up. i really don't. and now i guess if mitch mcconnell can shut it down and say we're not going to do it now. we'll do it later. if they're using that for a tool to trade back and forth, makes

no sense. >> you know, people who don't know your history in your state, you and i first met during a mine disaster. >> yes, we did. >> and i watched you out there deal with people who were angry, and they were scared, and they were given bad information and false hope, and you kept people calm and settled. and that was the hope, that you would go to washington, and i remember when you went in there. i was like, well, this guy can deal with bad situations. i watched it in real time. but you never expected anything like this. these people -- >> no. >> there are people hungry in the streets and a guy that you'll say is still your friend is putting something in that may keep them hungry through christmas? >> i think maybe -- i don't know, buddy. i swear to god, i can't explain it to you, chris. this is beyond me how anyone could think that this is so important that if you don't do this, we're going to hold this up and not send out $800 billion or $900 billion that will keep the economy alive, but more

importantly, it will keep a lot of people alive. i cannot believe this has become that important. but this is where it's at as of today, and you told me to come back and give you an update on what's happening. i'm giving it to you to the minute. >> i will never tell you to do anything. you're too powerful, and you're too large. >> no. >> and i do have a bottle of the best tequila that i'm not allowed to drink anymore and it's coming your way for keeping your promise. senator joe manchin, thanks very much. >> thanks, chris. merry christmas if i don't talk to you before and your family. if you can count your blessings, you can share your blessings. >> amen and thank you, senator. i'll be talking to you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. ♪

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the last few minutes, i want to bring in gen youth ceo,

alexis glick. good to see you, my friend. we have a few minutes. i have no questions. i want to give you the time, to tell my audience, what are kids dealing with in the schools? what needs aren't being met? what needs to be done? go. >> kids are suffering, tremendously. look. the bottom line is that schools in america have been ignored. when you look at this fund, this bill, this current bill. about $54 billion in support is going to go to schools, for protective equipment, for emergency availability of testing and things of that nature, that they have been begging for. but, our kids are being left behind. if you look at, right now, one in four kids in america is food insecure, which means they're hungry. in certain areas, that's one in three. we have a role to play. the federal government has not stepped up, nearly enough. you and i both know, state and local governments are fiscally, right now, suffering at record rates.

so, what are we doing? we are bringing public and private partners together. with this chunky million meals presented by target, where we have brought together the likes of madden, the likes of nfl players, america's dairy farmers, the likes of doritos and bose and others. we are pairing up with the top, individual madden players, across the country, to get a moment in time to be drafted by these greats. in the process, they will not only have a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but they will game for good so that, together, we can give back and provide 100 million meals to kids in need. chris, right now, i have never seen circumstances like this, in my career. we have truly forgotten about this generation. and we have to step up, and do something profound. and this tournament, this moment, of bringing together these unlikely suspects, is one way in which we can do that. all i can say to the viewers right now is our schools need

our help. our teachers need our help. if i said to you, there is this one place that's a great equalizer in america. it's a place, in which we teach our kids, in which we address their socio, emotional, mental-health concerns. and oh, by the way, we make sure that we set them up for success. right now, those schools are fiscally insolvent and we need to do something to step up. in churnky million meals challenge presented by target and all these other partners, i hope, is going to do this. and let me tell you something, chris, you know me. i'm not going to rest until i call everyone to get involved. i have called the eagles. i have myles sanders. i have called jerry judy and the denver broncos. i have asked every one of these nfl greats, and these teams to stand behind us in this effort. and every one of them have said yes, what can i do? more, more, more. so, i am so grateful to you for giving us this time to talk

about this because, right now, we're talking about frontline workers. but the frontline workers taking care of our kids, every day, are being ignored and it is shameful. and we have to do something about it. >> and, look, if congress doesn't do it, you have to have people step up and do it. and it's not just about teaching them, as alexis is telling us all the time. it's about feeding them. so many kids in this country get the real nutrition in schools. it's something we should be addressing. thank god that you are, alexis glick. it sounds like a great idea, great partnership, and i am happy to give you the time. thank you very much. your shot was a little unclear, but your message comes banging through. >> thank you, chris. >> take care. thank you, all, very much for watching as you enter into the weekend, i got a really great thing for you to watch right after this. cnn town hall, the color of covid, the vaccines, right up, after this. oa?

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just wanted to say thanks. thanks for believing. welcome. i am don lemon, in new york. >> i'm dr. sanjay gupta. welcome to the cnn