an investigation is under way, expected to take several days. take a listen to the moment it all happened. officials calling this a significant explosion as you just heard. we're expecting another update from national officials soon.

here's what they said a short time ago. >> we do believe this to have been an intentional act, significant damage has been done to the infrastructure there on second avenue north. the fbi, the atf, and the metro police department are conducting a full scale investigation, resources from federal partners are coming in from outside of the national area to assist in this and we will be conducting this investigation for the next number of days. a number of our police dogs have been called and are now searching the area. these are explosive detection dogs to make sure there are no secondary devices. we have no indication that there are secondary devices, however, out of abundance of caution, we have a number of dogs that are conducting sweeps of that immediate downtown area at present. we're also going to be

conducting searches of downtown buildings, particularly those impacted on second avenue, to make sure there's no one in need of help in those. i will say that central precinct officers conducted a door to door apartment to apartment if you will check of units on second avenue this morning just before the explosion occurred and got persons to safety. there was actually a man walking his dog on second avenue that an officer stopped and directed in another way just before the rv exploded. the explosion knocked one of our officers to the ground. thankfully no officers were significantly hurt. >> yeah. very thankful, no critical injuries to report as well, which is remarkable.

cnn correspondent shi moan is following. >> the fbi in memphis is taking over the investigation. part of the reason for that is because of the resources they can provide. we are dealing with explosive material in the explosion. that's why the fbi would take the lead. they have all sorts of resources. no officials are telling us at this point this is any kind of terrorism or terrorist act. certainly there are some who are investigating this and trying to find out if it is but we shouldn't read the fact that the fbi is taking over the investigation because this is determined to be some terrorist act. that's all still under investigation. as we have been seeing from pictures, the size of the explosion, the debris field for

blocks in some cases, windows being damaged all over downtown nashville, the explosion heard miles away, so the fact that we have what appears to be a very large explosion, what appears to have been something that was placed in an rv perhaps that caused this explosion has everyone very much concerned and what we're hearing is they're searching the area to make sure there are no other explosive devices. they closed down the downtown area. remarkably, there have only been three injuries so far, the fire department says those injuries are minor. a police officer was injured and part of that is because the police, they responded there early this morning before the sun rose and when they got there, they were responding to calls of shots fired and when they got there, they noticed the rv, something suspicious about

it. they started evacuating the neighborhood and as the bomb squad was rolling in, that's when the rv exploded. >> shimon, thank you. bring in cnn security correspondent josh campbell. i first want to get your reaction. obviously you worked for the fbi, the fbi taking over this investigation or leading in it. what do you make of that and what does that mean? >> i think it is important to first point out that whenever the fbi assumes jurisdiction over a case, it is not like in the movies where they show up, say we're on scene, we got this, this is very much hand in glove joint investigative effort because it is involving multiple agencies here. what this is going to tell us is that now obviously federal investigators will bring all of the resources to bear that they have. i am hearing they're sending in resources from other neighboring offices as well to assist. we know in quantico, virginia, the fbi has a laboratory there,

to include a special team that does nothing but bomb analysis, so we can imagine they would be instrumental as well. as we talked about investigations in the past that involved explosives, it is important to have historical knowledge that the fbi has because they can look at everything from the ingredients of a device, look at, for example, down to if there was a timer involved, they can say these timers are sold in these stores. just a collection of knowledge that they use in the investigations. they also work with the atf who does very much the same thing. important to point out. this is now led federally. they'll be relying on partners there locally. this is also, we saw after 9/11, the fbi ramping up the number of the joint terrorism task forces for this reason. they conduct investigations but also when something goes boom, they can tap into those resources that all of these agencies bring to bear to try to quickly identify the person

responsible. >> and give us a sense of what's happening. we heard this is an investigation that will take several days. they're going to be combing every inch of what is now an active crime scene. we know they're going door to door, making sure everyone is accounted for. making sure there's not a second or third device to be worried about. how long will it be before the scene is secured? >> they're going to hold that scene as long as it takes. probably talking days or maybe weeks. that's such a large area. they want to gather every piece of information they can. having worked bomb investigations, sometimes the key piece of information could be a centimeter wide, something so tiny that then is the key driver in where the investigation goes next, so with this area where we have a street explosion going on, funnel, blast wave up and down the street, evidence could be spread over a large area. they'll be taking their time. to the earlier question what

they're doing, we see officials there, police on the scene processing what's going on. let me take you inside. this is the best way to explain it. there's a command post that will be set up, in large scale investigations you have different teams, you have the evidence team, forensic team, a team looking at communications. we heard earlier reports there was some 911 call of shots fired before the incident, that investigators will want to look at, the communication aspect, digital aspect, and then large scale part of the investigation is going to be fanning out collecting all of the surveillance footage in and around the area because again, they don't know when the rv pulled up, when it parked there, but in this day and age where technology, especially in a city, there will likely be footage of that coming up. all of this is part of a wide scale, large scale investigation going on behind the scenes. the goal to try to determine who was responsible. last thing i'll say, we don't know whether the person was

inside that vehicle and may have been a casualty in the explosion or if the person is at large. those are all items that investigators are trying to look at now. >> i know this is cliché, some of the images we have been seeing looks like a war zone. there was a picture of the incinerated car with it still smoking. it really goes to show the extent of the damage, the strength of the blast which sparked fires on streets and burned down at least three cars. it really is just astounding. josh campbell, thank you so much for your expertise. let's bring in david katz, former dea agent, firearms, homeland security expert. david, thank you so much for joining us. i want to go through the timeline, especially for viewers that might just be joining us, we're talking about a massive explosion that happened on this christmas morning after 6:30 in downtown nashville in a historic

part of town. it happened around 6:30. there was a call to 911 about shots having been fired. police responded. when they got to the scene, they saw something that made them suspicious and ended up calling in the bomb squad. as the bomb squad was responding, david, that is when this rv exploded. what do you make of that, especially this happening on a christmas morning when virtually no one is out on the streets? >> well, you know, you have a bunch of things wrapped into that question. christmas morning, obviously early that morning you don't expect a lot of people on the street. this could be some misguided intention to cause property damage, minimize casualties. to the first question, the initial 911 call, do we know there was shots fired or ruse to get law enforcement to the scene. when they rolled up, what did they see.

the rv, large capacity, had the ability to carry explosive. that officer on the ball and deserves a medal and a lot of time off. the timing and location is interesting. i was in nashville just a couple months back. that location in the evening, it is residential, but it is next to the at&t building. the at&t owns many corporations, including cnn. is there a link there? it is too early to tell. >> david, how do you get to these answers? what exactly will they be looking at to figure out who and why and what the intended target may have been? >> josh mentioned all of the forensics. that's critical. there will be enormous amounts of evidence collected. they'll figure out what the explosive was, figure out the

bomb components, the wiring, the level of sophistication. they may be able to find out if it is a rudimentary device, may be able to pinpoint to a hardware store or home depot where they were purchased, putting the device together. then of course josh mentioned technology. every city has license plate readers. there's no doubt if the vehicle had plates, it will roll past a number of readers. you can pinpoint where it came in, roughly when it was parked, and then once they get the vehicle, get the vin number and id it. i have a fairly high level of confidence they'll be able to identify who was behind the wheel. >> i was going to ask you that. david, thank you so much for joining us. if you're just tuning in on cnn, this is nashville, tennessee. yes, this is the united states of america. the extent of damage is really remarkable after a massive

explosion rocked downtown nashville. this is near second avenue. it is an active crime scene. the newest bit of news that we heard from shimon prokupecz, this investigation is expected to take days. everyone is being asked or told for that matter to stay away from the area as officials are still trying to secure the scene, make sure there's no secondary device and that everyone in the surrounding area has been accounted for. we're going to stay on top of this story. up next, coronavirus slamming los angeles with hospitals on the brink and record setting number of deaths reported. essed skin that struggles? new aveeno® restorative skin therapy. with our highest concentration of prebiotic oat intensely moisturizes over time to improve skin's resilience. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature™.

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it may be christmas day but thanks to the pandemic, it's a christmas like no other. experts warn a holiday surge could be around the corner. they reported over 2800 deaths. despite that, this week already a record number of travelers, tsa reporting some of the highest numbers of air travelers they've seen since the start of the pandemic. and today, a new rule for some passengers. the cdc will require proof of a negative test for anyone entering the country from the uk, and comes amid concerns of the new covid strain spreading rapidly there. start with cnn's senior medical

correspondent elizabeth cohen. hi there, elizabeth. tell us about the new requirements. >> let's look at what the u.s. is asking of folks who fly from the uk to the u.s. this is all because of the new variant that has shown up there. so the cdc is saying passengers must get tested within three days of leaving, departing from the uk, and then passengers have to provide documentation of a negative test result from that test to the airline. so the cdc is saying this is very useful. they say the additional testing requirement will fortify protection of the american public to improve their health and safety, ensure responsible international travel. i will tell you, though, talking to experts and using logic, this isn't all that useful. you could be infected with covid, possibly about a week before your flight and wouldn't get caught on that test. you would be flying infected. there's a whole sort of week where you could be infected

before you fly and no one, the test wouldn't catch it. that's a problem. it is like as an expert said, catching a mass keet oh with a chain-link fence. it will not catch the cases or nearly all the cases of covid. may not serve the purpose it is intended to serve. >> dr. megan randy we spoke with last hour had the same sentiment, said it was too little too late. elizabeth cohen, thanks. turning to california, the state became the first to surpass 2 million coronavirus cases and the situation is particularly dangerous in southern california where according to los angeles county public health director. someone in that county dies every ten minutes from covid. joining me from los angeles is cnn medical analyst dr. jorge rodriguez. thank you for joining me,

unfortunately under these circumstances. doctor, we were mentioning, california's health secretary is saying hospitals in the state of full, there are very few icu beds available. many of the hospitals have zero percent capacity. california was one of the first states to lockdown back in march only to see the state surge with virus when it reopened in may. now as you mentioned, california, first state to hit 2 million cases. what went wrong? >> well, that's a great question. i pushwish i had the answer. truth is that many things went wrong. i am one of those probably more of a hard liner because as you can tell, in the last segments, if you do things sort of in a halfway, things leak in. i think that's what happened. even though we locked down early in the summer, people did go out and visit friends, go to other states where the pandemic was

surging and we have a large population of people that are underinsured, under medical access, can't access medicine. we have a large population of people that don't have documentation papers and are reluctant to seek medical care. all of that can spread. not blaming one particular faction, but all of that has now -- the chickens have come to roo roost. >> a number of factors causing that surge in california. we were mentioning, dr. rodriguez, the cdc new requirements requiring all airline passengers arriving from the uk to test negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of departure. do you feel like this is too little too late, using a chain-link fence to catch a mosquito as elizabeth cohen used as analogy? >> absolutely. like they so well presented, you

can have somebody that tests negative and is already incubating virus during the 72 hours before they arrive. the virus actually becomes much more full blown in their body, they're much more highly infectious. if we're going to do it, unfortunately we need to stop allowing people from the uk to come in or anybody that's been there. again, my position, we either do it well or we don't do it. is this better than nothing? probably. but again, mosquito with a chain-link fence. >> i was going to ask you if that was better than nothing, and perhaps it is. dr. jorge rodriguez, merry christmas. thank you for joining us. >> merry christmas. we continue to follow breaking news out of nashville. we're minutes away from a police briefing on the explosion they call intentional. it is expected at the top of the hour. next, we'll be talking to a former fbi director on why the fbi is taking over the investigation.

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back to the breaking news. downtown nashville, tennessee rocked by what police call an intentional explosion that caused significant damage. the fbi out of memphis is taking the lead in the investigation. police have sealed off parts of downtown nashville as part of

the investigation. they're telling people to stay away as they continue to try to secure the scene. let me bring in former fbi deputy director andrew mccabe, a cnn senior law enforcement analyst. andrew, appreciate you joining us. first off, tell us more what it means now that the fbi is taking charge. shimon prokupecz reported a few minutes ago that this is about resources, not any indication this was terrorism. >> that's absolutely right. so good morning and merry christmas. sorry we had to spend christmas morning talking about such a tough subject but the fbi taking the lead in this investigation was entirely expected. it doesn't mean they're working it alone. i'm sure they're working closely with nashville pd and other state and local agencies and law enforcement as well. the fbi has a level of material

resources and expertise they can bring to an incredibly demanding, complicated crime scene such as this one, and those resources, the scope of that man power, the muscle memory they have from doing this so many other times, that really doesn't exist in the same way in any other entity. having the federal agency leading the investigation also gives you all of the legal framework and legal authorities that are really necessary in a complicated terrorism investigation like this. it opens up the door to federal prosecutions, once people are identified and those cases are built. it also gives access to incredibly powerful intelligence resources that the fbi and other intelligence agencies have access to. >> did you say terrorism investigation? wanted to clarify that. >> i'm sorry, could you repeat? >> did you say they would be leaning towards a terror investigation, andrew?

>> i would expect that the fbi is treating this presumptively as an act of terrorism. that doesn't necessarily mean it is an act of international terrorism or domestic terrorism, those two possibilities are still looming out there. we really have to know more about the people behind it before you can make that sort of determination, but anytime you have the intentional detonation of a massive explosive device like this, you begin working that issue as a terrorist problem. >> andrew, tell us more about what's going into the investigation and with man power that you were talking about at the federal level, how soon before you think authorities will be able to identify a suspect. are they going and pouring through surveillance videos now? >> that's absolutely one of the many things they're doing. they're marshaling resources from multiple field offices and

headquarters. once that crime scenario is determined to be safe and clear of other devices, you'll see it flooded with evidence collection specialists and all the equipment they use. as soon as they find a piece of this device, you'll have an important thread to pull to ultimately we hope take them back to identifying the person who may have been involved. at the same time, they'll be downloading that private security cameras in the area, they'll collect all of that video feed and analyze every second of it. they'll be looking at the rv. vehicles can be identified. license plates, serial numbers on the engines and other parts so they'll be looking closely at who was the last owner of that vehicle, where are those people now. there's all sorts of really good leads that they have to work with here. >> i found it interesting, andrew, a couple of hours ago

you were mentioning the significance of this rv being used. can you talk more about that? >> sure. we have seen this in many incidents in the past, many attacks. one of the easiest, timothy mcveigh on the building in oklahoma city. mcveigh built a large explosive device in the back of a ryder truck. gives you the ability to construct the device without too much attention, it is private, and gives you a vehicle that enables you to deliver the device to any place you want to take it at the time you're looking for. certainly, though, possibilities are being considered here with use of the rv. it is large, can carry pretty good sized pay load. you can be covert in efforts around constructing it. then the bombers are able to drive the rv to the site they want to use it. >> quickly because we have to

go. i want to ask your thoughts about the timeline of this, andrew, that the rv exploded as the bomb squad was responding to the scene. do you see this as a ploy or plan to have drawn in law enforcement? >> well, there are two things i think that indicate that. first, the phone call to 911 which very likely was a ruse call, shots fired. that's a sort of report that is guaranteed to provoke a large law enforcement response, so that brings law enforcement folks into the area, then of course the detonation of the device as they are arriving. we won't know obviously what the motivation was here but those are two facts that point strongly to the possibility that these bombers were trying to impact or attack our first responders. >> andrew mccabe, appreciate your expertise. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> i want to mention, there was a man by the name of buck mccoy

who lives in the area, he told cnn when the explosion happened, it was, quote, like a movie. it really felt like the end of times. still ahead, we will continue to follow breaking news in nashville. we're just getting word that president trump who is in florida has been briefed about the explosion. we're going to be live in west palm beach next.

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we continue to follow the breaking news out of nashville, tennessee. a massive explosion rocked the city's downtown this morning just around 6:30. police are calling it an intentional act. at least three people have been hurt with nonlife-threatening injuries. we learned the fbi is taking over the investigation to provide more resources. we expect a news briefing from police just minutes from now and we plan on bringing that to you live. meantime, president trump has been briefed on the explosion. jeremy diamond is in west palm beach. jeremy, are you hearing anything from the white house on this? >> reporter: well, we just have one statement from the white house's deputy press secretary who confirms president trump has been briefed on the explosion in nashville. the president has been on his golf course this morning and is there as of now. the statement says that

president trump has been briefed on the explosion in nashville, tennessee and will continue to receive regular updates. he says the president is grateful for the incredible first responders and praying for those that were injured. that's all we have from the white house as of now. clearly law enforcement officials in nashville are still investigating the situation. details on the motivations and circumstances of the explosion are still quite thin, but i expect as details continue to roll in, perhaps we get more reaction from the president or his team. >> jeremy, we have been saying all afternoon that there are serious deadlines that are looming for the president as he mulls over whether to sign the cd relief bill. millions of americans concerned about their economic future just days from now. what's the latest on his thinking on that? >> no doubt. we are in an incredibly precarious season on the

christmas 2020. more than 20 million americans are currently unemployed. 8 million americans slipped into poverty since the summer alone. and so as many of us are celebrating christmas today, there are also many that are not able to do so and who are struggling financially. that's why the $900 billion coronavirus relief package that congress actually passed earlier this week is incredibly needed, yet the president of the united states threatened to repeal that legislation just days ago, despite being completely uninvolved in negotiations leading up to it, making a series of demands, but he hasn't actually been involved in trying to get those demands into the legislation. he hasn't been on the phone with lawmakers on capitol hill, meeting with his advisers to try to work something out. we know this legislation was actually flown down to palm beach and an official familiar with the matter confirms that that piece of legislation is now at mar-a-lago awaiting the president's signature. so far, we don't have an indication whether the president

intends to sign this piece of legislation or perhaps whether he will veto it, as the president suggested. there's a third option, which is the president could do nothing at all. eventually the legislation will become law without the president's signature, but that would delay relief for millions of americans, even just tomorrow, delaying another day would allow supplemental unemployment benefits, federal unemployment benefits for ml millions of americans, they expire tomorrow. he needs to sign that to avoid lapse in benefits. >> can only imagine, so many people on edge, unsure whether or not president trump will sign the bill. jeremy diamond, thank you very much live in west palm beach, florida. joining me now, congressman brad sherman, a member of house foreign affairs and financial services committee. congressman, thank you so much for joining me. we talked about people face

losing unemployment benefits this weekend, and the government could shutdown monday at midnight. now in the hands of the president. what are the real life consequences if he doesn't sign the bill? >> well, as you point out, if he doesn't sign the bill quickly, people will lose unemployment benefits that is critical. merry christmas to everybody, can't think of a worse way to greet christmas than fail to sign the bill. if the president fails to sign the bill, normally it would become law in ten days. because congress adjourns in ten days, he has a pocket. he can veto the bill, he could refuse to sign the bill. the government funding shuts down end of monday. my guess is if he doesn't sign it in the next couple days that we will pass another continuing resolution keeping the government on automatic pilot.

but that would be a tragedy to people that are relying on eviction moratoriums, unemployment insurance, and so many other things in this cd bill we need, including money for vaccine distribution. >> i want to talk about the eviction moratoriums in a second. i wanted to follow up. say president trump signs the bill today. millions of americans, it will be days or weeks before they get to see the economic relief they need, correct? >> well, every state has a different unemployment insurance mechanism and bureaucracy, if he were to sign the bill today, there would be only short term disruption in people getting their extra in this case $300, it has been 6 hunl$600, but $30. checks would be going out in the next few weeks. if he signs the bill today, that would be the best christmas

present of all. >> back to eviction moratoriums, you tweeted about this, about importance of eviction protections inside this relief package. what does this limbo mean for that benefit and for what so many people are counting on right now? >> well, the first day of next year is an end to eviction moratoriums and chance for landlords to evict tenants if the president doesn't sign the bill as far as federal law. in california, there are other eviction moratoriums that will protect people. if we can get a one month extension on the eviction moratoriums, then when we get a new president on january 20th, he can use executive power to extend that eviction moratoriums through the end of the covid crisis. one month is a lot longer than it sounds. >> and you were mentioning that $600 are not enough, the house is set to vote on expanding that

to 2,000. do you all have enough republican support to pass it? >> i don't think there would be support in the senate to pass it. and i think it is certainly a good step. there are a number of things we could have done to save money in this bill, things we can look at again particularly on the tax side. but frankly, that $600 is not enough. $600 now, maybe more in two or three months. american families need more help. >> they sure do. congressman, happy holidays, merry christmas. thank you so much for joining me. >> merry christmas. coming up, it's a presidential power granted by the constitution, but one senator says after trump's pardons, it may be time to take that privilege away. white house historian weighs in next.

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with just weeks left in office, president trump is using his presidential powers as a political weapon, issuing a wave of pardons, rewarding friends and loyalists, roger stone, paul manafort, even his son-in-law's father, charles kushner. pardons so self serving, one is calling for that to be eliminated. chris murphy tweeting once one party allows the party in power to have a tool of criminal

enterprise, it is danger to democracy outweighs utility as instrument of justice. it is time to remove the pardon power from the constitution. joining me now to discuss, tim neftali, presidential historian, former director of the nixon presidential library. i will get your reaction to that tweet from senator chris murphy, but first, could you talk a little about president trump's pardons, how the process that he is employing and people that he is employing, how different it is from his predecessors. >> well, ordinarily, pardons or any form of clemency are suggested to the president by his justice department. these pardons are the result of a process that involves people petitioning for pardons and this goes through the justice department and then the justice department weighs in on whether

or not the pardon fits the precedent of use of a presidential pardon. president trump's pardons as we've seen do not reflect the product of any process. they are a product of his whim. >> i want to read you something, tim, that georgia mason, one of the framers of the constitution said in 1788 when they were debating the powers of the presidential pardon. he almost predicted and feared the pardons of the likes of paul manafort and roger stone. he said the president ought not to have the power of pardoning because he may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself, may happen at some future day he will establish a monarchy and destroy the republic. if he has the power of granting pardons before indictment and conviction, making that stop

inquiry, the case of treason ought to be excepted. in 2020, the president using this political power as a political weapon. what were the framers' intent with the first of alpresidentia? >> they wanted the pardon to be for the chief executive to show mercy, correct errors made by the justice system. they drew upon the experience in english common law of the royal prerogative. they talked about the need for using pardons at times to heal the country in moments of great political controversy. mason, george mason, was not the only founder or framer that had concerns about this blanket power that the constitution gives the president. there are others that said maybe the senate should participate in granting of any pardon linked to treason. in the end, the framers decided they could trust us, the

american people, not to put corrupt men in office and if we were wrong, if we made a mistake, they trusted congress to remove the president through impeachment. >> we have 30 seconds. knowing that there are few limits on the presidential power to issue pardons, should this be eliminated, the constitution be overhauled? >> nope. i think the constitution should be amended. i would recommend three changes. no self pardons. no pardons for members of your family. no pardons by any president after election day. that would clear up the issue without eliminating the good things that a good president can do with a pardon. merry christmas to all. >> merry christmas to you. thank you so much for joining me. and thank you for being with us. still ahead, following breaking news out of nashville. the fbi has taken over the investigation into an explosion police are calling intentional. officials are briefing the public in minutes. we'll take you there live.

hello. thank you for joining us. you're watching a special edition of "newsroom." we begin with breaking news out of nashville. police are investigating an explosion this morning as an intentional act. the mayor warning residents to stay away from the downtown area. a briefing is set to begin any moment. we'll bring that to you live. police believe the explosion came from a parked vehicle outside the at&t building. that's the tallest bld