these extraordinary creatures and their habitats because as we learned from the covid-19 pandemic, if we don't protect them, we're actually putting ourselves at risk. thanks for watching. good night. hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. appreciate your company. coming up, here on cnn "newsroom." major developments on the christmas-day bombing in nashville. investigators focus on a new theory behind the cause of the explosion. with more americans dying from covid-19 this month than any other, president trump let the clock strike midnight on that relief package. and that means millions could now be without unemployment benefits. plus, the rush to build the border wall, before the trump

presidency ends. supporters say, vital for security. activists say, an environmental disaster. the economic toll of the coronavirus, of course, has been staggering. well, now, millions of americans have just lost unemployment benefits and may, soon, lose eviction protection. president trump, refusing to sign the $900 billion coronavirus-relief bill. the deadline for doing so passed two hours ago. it also means a possible, government shutdown at midnight, on monday. this is despite the white house giving its blessing to the deal that passed congress, days ago. mr. trump, now, says it doesn't give americans enough money.

he tweeted, saturday, demanding congress raise the $600, in direct payments, to $2,000. also, blaming china. jeremy diamond is traveling with the president. he has the latest for us, from florida. >> reporter: well, president trump, on saturday, appeared to only dig in his heels further on his objections of -- to this coronavirus-relief bill. the president, insisting, once again, on saturday, that he wants to see those stimulus checks to americans more than tripled, from $600 to $2,000. tweeting, i simply want to get our great people $2,000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. also, stop the billions of dollars in pork. now, president trump is saying here that all he wants is to increase these stimulus checks. but if that was really his goal, then the president might have spoken up before this legislati legislation was passed. remember, the president only called this bill a disgrace and suggested he might not sign it

or perhaps even veto it, after congress passed this by overwhelming majority, a veto-proof majority, at that. and president trump, in the four days since he -- since he made that threat, he hasn't been on the phone with congressional leadership. he hasn't been meeting with advisers to find a way to salvage this relief. instead, we have seen the president at his mar-a-lago resort, palling around with his friends here, and going out golfing, as he did on thursday and on friday. and the president is doing this, at a time, when not only are key deadlines coming up for him to sign this legislation but, also, at a time when millions of americans are in need of that financial relief. more than 20 million americans currently unemployed. and 12 million americans will lose their benefits, this weekend, if the president does not immediately sign this legislation. those unemployment benefits, supplemental-unemployment benefits, provided by the federal government, during this coronavirus pandemic. there are other key dates, also, looming. on tuesday, the government will shut down, amid a global

pandemic, if the president doesn't sign this legislation into law. and then, at the end of the month, at the end of the year on december 31st, that eviction moratorium, also, expires. so, again, critically-needed relief here for americans who are struggling right now. and the president could just sign this piece of legislation, and that relief would, quickly, get dispersed. there is, also, concerns about vaccine distribution. there is a lot of vaccine-distribution funding in this legislation as well. that was one of the messages that we heard from president-elect joe biden, on saturday. who warned that, if the president doesn't sign this legislation, not only would he be hurting small businesses, american families, but, also, potentially, these very complex plans to district a coronavirdi coronavirus vaccine. jeremy diamond, cnn, traveling with the president in west palm beach, florida. >> ryan patel, claremont graduate university. good to see you, ryan.

this -- this is crazy stuff. more than 20 peopmillion people the u.s. currently get unemployment benefits. what -- what -- what would be the real-world impacts of this president not signing a bill his own people negotiated and which was passed with a huge, bipartisan majority? >> let me be very clear. if there is any doubt that there is an impact or not an impact, let me -- let me just clear it up. there is an impact. now, the question becomes is it short-term? or long-term? and that is a question we are talking about in economy perspective. we saw, in the u.s., you know, 9.3 million people file claims under this program as early as december. and so, if you are shutting down this program, or -- or -- it's -- obviously, it's not signed. even if you signed a bill tomorrow, michael, states will not -- will not even be able to -- people will be backdated for a couple weeks. and people who need money does have you know, a domino effect

of not being able to pay for rent. not being able to pay for food. even going back to what you mentioned prior, a cyclical effect. >> yeah. jobless benefits going to run out for -- for millions. government funding's going to lapse on monday. that is no small deal. the moratorium on evictions is going to expire, next week. those direct payments, of course. what do you make of the political paralysis, in the face of such real-world devastation for so many people? i mean, it's head-shaking, how the president and other politicians, could let this happen. >> well, it's funny. you were talking about small businesses. when we look at the business community, you hold leadership to a high level, right? you talk about are -- are you leading the people, employees, are you doing well for environment? you talk about leadership from both left, right, democrats, republicans, i don't care. this is a failure to the people. and why this -- this is not a first time this has continued to happen. we are talking about government

shutdown. we are talking about people who need these benefits, in the middle of a pandemic. and we are talking about a possible shutdown is a failure, especially, when we just -- again, to tie it back to the businesses example. we have been talking about, for months, small businesses need these loans. everybody in government's talking about this. how do you support them? and now, we are at this deadline? they need these ppp loans and now we can't give it to them. >> it's -- it is extraordinary. and -- and -- and speak, if you will, to the prbroader impacts all this. going to have lower consumer confidence, going to have less money to spend. the flow on the impacts to the economy are real. >> yes. and as -- as -- as you were alluding to, the global impacts is real. i think the stimulus package is just a band-aid. so, the effects we should have felt maybe a couple months ago. are now going -- if this package doesn't go through, we are going to start seeing it. eviction notices.

the real estate prices. you know, consumers don't buy more. the companies stop offering health benefits. right? it then starts to add up more and more and, again, the whole purpose of a stimulus package is to help people stay afloat so they can get back to their feet. and i think that's where the u.s. economy will be back at its strength, when people can get back in the midst of this pandemic being over. >> and real quick, it's taken months to get this far. and you know, now, the president blocking help after the negotiations and the agreement. he could have been involved in this months ago, instead of golfing and tweeting. there's -- there's -- there's almost a sense -- insensitivity to what americans are going through. how do you think people are going to react to this? >> it's funny. this wasn't during the holiday time, michael, i would say i think people might be more enraged. people might be, funny enough i guess, not paying closer attention because maybe people are off. but i assure you, when january

1st turns around, michael, people will be paying attention. what does the 2021 outlook look like for themselves, for their community, and obviously, for the global economy? >> ryan patel, appreciate it. good to see you. thanks so much. >> thanks, michael. now, to nashville, tennessee, where the pieces might be coming together in a puzzling act of destruction. authorities now believe the christmas-morning motor-home explosion was likely a suicide bombing. the powerful blast, injuring three people and causing widespread damage downtown. it could have been a mass-casualty tragedy, if the parked rv hadn't been blaring a warning before the blast. >> if you can hear this message, back away now. if you can hear this message, evacuate now.

>> again, authorities now believe this was a likely-suicide bombing. that's according to two law enforcement sources. calls and tips, also, led them to a home in nashville suburb. a photograph taken last year from google street view appears to show the rv in question parked outside that home. you can see it, there. now, authorities went there saturday for what they called court-authorized activity. one presumes that's a warrant. cnn's shimon prokupecz is in nashville, with the latest on these new developments. >> reporter: authorities here in nashville continue to try and figure out the motive behind the christmas-morning attack. one belief, from authorities, is that this was a suicide bombing. but they don't know what led up to the events. they are exploring every theory, at this point, every motive, as they work back in identifying the person. and also, trying to learn the motive. what caused this person to come here, and cause such a massive explosion?

for the last 48 hours, authorities have been going through every piece of evidence. collecting debris from a lot of the destruction. authorities say some 40 buildings were damaged here. as we know, the three people were injured. but right now, for people here, in nashville, the one thing authorities say is they should feel safe. the police are not looking for anyone in connection with this bombing. and at this point, they are just trying to get the streets reopened. and then, hopefully, continue to work this investigation to try and learn a motive. shimon prokupecz, cnn, nashville, tennessee. >> joining me, now, in cambridge, massachusetts, is juliet, former assistant secretary at the department of homeland security. great to have you on to talk about this. i mean, i guess the fact that -- that it's apparently a suicide and there were warnings given, certainly, suggests this was a one off and not some broader

conspiracy. how do these elements change the investigation? >> well, there's a couple factors at play now. because it was a suicide bombing where, presumably, the fbi already knows who it is. they're in the home. they will be able to determine whether this was for private purposes. in other words, was this a suicide because of some personal vendetta? something to do with his own emotional state, without a greater meaning. or was this something larger? and that's why people, you know, wonder about words like terrorism. we have no evidence to suggest what the motivation is, at this stage. so, it's very important that we use our words accurately. so, this was a suicide explosion, at this stage. but we don't know whether his motivations were private or for some, you know, ideological purpose. i -- i have great confidence the fbi will figure that out relatively quickly because he'll have evidence at his home. >> yeah. and -- and -- and i guess, i suppose the suicide angle does indicate that he wasn't planning

other things. >> right. >> that it was broader than what it is. so, what will investigators be doing now? i guess, psychological profile. >> yes. >> i guess, we can assume they already know a lot about this man? >> right. they'll -- they'll take two tracks, simultaneously. one will be was this part of something bigger, some ideological movement? that will be looking at the internet. is -- are there manifestos around his home? who was he in contact with? i will say, the amount of explosives was significant. so, how did he purchase them? how did he know how to use them? why was he telling people to disperse? then, they'll be the more psychological focus. who was he? did something happen to him? how he has been since the pandemic? did he lose a job, recently? a wife? a girlfriend? we don't know, yet. and so, those two investigations will occur, simultaneously. obviously, the fbi is invested or interested to -- to ensure that it wasn't terrorism. so, they're going to want to

exclude that, relatively quickly. so that, they don't have to wonder where associates are. how did he get radicalized? and might there be other people planning similar incidents? we don't know that, yet. so, that is why the -- the fbi has been relatively quiet on the motivation front. >> right. and -- and -- and i guess, until we know the motivation and -- and, also, the target. i mean, clearly, regardless, it wasn't people or mass casualties that were the target. but it was outside an at&t facility and -- and there was a sizeable, communications outage. i guess, from your -- your standpoint and your knowledge base, do we learn anything from this about infrastructure vulnerabilities? >> right. so, i will say, we do not know whether that at&t building, the one that has had disruptions. that have caused disruptions in everything from air travel to cell service. whether or not it was a target and if it was a target, why? or whether it's just the -- you

know, the damage it accrued was just incidental to him, to the -- to the suicide bomber choosing that street. so, we don't know, yet. but what we do know, and i will really praise at&t, that they brought in sort of an emergency crew, almost automatically. they were able to deploy resources throughout the city so that cell service wasn't automatic but it was back up and running. and in particular, things like 911, airport and airline service, air-travel service, and transportation, were back up and running. doesn't mean that they weren't disrupted. but what you want to make sure, in these cases, is, you know, if something bad happens, how quickly can your critical infrastructure get back up? and i have to say, i have been very, very impressed by their capacity to get things back up and running. but i think you're exactly right. the vulnerabilities of our critical infrastructure are engs posed in cases like this. especially, just the capacity of

someone to bring a truck with that many explosives into an urban area. >> exactly. exactly. juliet, always a pleasure. good to see you. >> thank you, very much. well, the u.s. is breaking record, after record, in this coronavirus pandemic. one in a thousand americans have died. and this is the country's deadliest month, so far. and it's not over, yet. we'll be right back. the sun is pretty incredible... it makes our lipton leaves better. which makes this smooth tea taste better. and time spent together. even better. and drinking lipton every day. can help support a healthy heart. from maybelline new york. and drinking lipton every day. the look of a lash lift without the salon hassle. double-curved lifting brush. long, lifted volume. ♪ falsies lash lift mascara. only from maybelline new york. we like clockwork.ht. do it! run your dishwasher with cascade platinum. and save water.

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crest 3d white removes 95% of stains in just 3 days. welcome back. health experts in the u.s. are bracing for, yet, another surge in cases. just like we saw after other holidays, over the last few months. and that's just, of course, the last thing the country needs right now. covid-19 has claimed the lives of one out of every 1,000 americans, according to data from johns hopkins university. with four days left, december already the deadliest month for the u.s., since the pandemic began. more than 63,000 people have died, this month. bringing the total number of lives lost to nearly 332,000. california, the first state to record 2 million coronavirus

cases. the director of the los angeles health department saying, on average, one person in the county dies every ten minutes from covid-19. doctors and nurses in california, working themselves through exhaustion. paul vercammen with more from los angeles. >> reporter: the war against covid-19 in california being waged on two fronts. one, in the hospitals. we have almost 19,000 people hospitalized. 4,000 of those patients are in intensive-care units. and that means staffing ramped up. doctors and nurses, being called in on their days off. working longer shifts. and literally, expanding the intensive-care units, as well as the emergency rooms, to accommodate this flood of covid-19 patients. and then, look behind me. the testing. extremely important. they'll tell you, here, you can talk all you want about vaccines. but you have to keep testing. at dodgers stadium, they've had days where they've tested 11,000 people. unsung heroes of the pandemic? the people conducting the

testing. on their feet, for lengthy hours. speaking to people in cars who may not have talked to somebody for months. quelling those children, sometimes, who break out in tears. and, of course, comforting each other. >> it's not about just that one person but it's families who are struggling and mourning and the pain it brings. we've definitely known people that have passed from this pandemic. and it's heartbreaking. we had a co-worker who just lost her grandmother last week. a day to mourn. and then, right back to work. you know, it's -- we have a big task in front of us, and we know we just got to keep on going strong right now. >> reporter: and many of his co-workers also fan out and go to other parts of los angeles county where people may not be getting tested regularly like they should. sometimes, it's simply they don't have transportation to get to a testing site. reporting from dodger stadium, i'm paul vercammen, now back to

you. >> all right. i want to bring in, infectious-disease expert and researcher, who is joining us now from los angeles. good to see you, again. 2 -- 2 -- 2 million vaccine doses administered in the u.s., so far. but how long will it take for the impact of vaccinations to show up in case numbers? when are we likely to see the benefit of them in a community-spread sense? >> thank you, michael, for having me on, again. you know, covid-19 vaccines are very promising. but for any vaccine that newly comes onboard, it's going to take quite a while to see an impact. the reason why is because there has to be a certain percentage of the population that gets vaccinated and for there to be an effect that's seen and for there to be herd immunity that develops. it's not going to be january. it's not going to be february. my prediction is that we won't see a positive impact in cases

decreasing, until sometime in the summertime. i honestly think we're -- it's going to get worse, before it gets better. and that's why we know that other measures, right now, work. such as, face masks, physically distancing, not having those mass gatherings. >> yeah. no -- no time to relax. i -- i guess, anyone who -- who wants a vaccine should be able to get one before the middle of the year, they say. but how important is it that -- that -- that, you know, that number, 75%, 80% of people get it? i mean, so, you get that critical-mass number to effect so-called herd immunity? >> it is so imperative that -- that whenever you hear you are eligible to get vaccinated, that you get vaccinated because it's going to take every single person to get vaccinated in their tier, in order to develop that herd immunity. so, it's vital, michael. we need at least 75% herd immunity. at least 75% of people have to

get vaccinated in order for there to be an impact of -- of these vaccines. we know these vaccines are greater than 90% effective. and it's going to take time to really show that -- that effectiveness and that decrease in transmission. which, therefore, will impact the overall burden of this virus in the community. >> absolutely. you've got one in five, i think, hospital icus at or over capacity right now. and, of course, staff is a whole other thing. you can add beds. you can't add people. but what happens with a post-christmas surge of hospitalizations, which people say could happen? it's not just beds, it's staff that treat those patients. >> i don't know what it's going to take for the american people

to really understand the impact of this -- of this virus. just as you stated, michael, one -- one person dies, every ten minutes, here in los angeles county. we're at zero percent icu capacity. there is going to be a surge that we see after the christmas holiday because over 7 million people traveled during this christmas holiday, at least. so, no -- there seems to be a very limited number of people that are listening. and i can tell you that, for those individuals that are not taking this virus seriously, i think, unfortunately, it's going to take them to get the virus or for a loved one to be impacted by the virus for them to really understand the burden of this -- of this virus. and my fear is that we enter into 2021, and it's a very dismal outlook if -- if we don't take -- take -- take really some dire measure, right now. >> yeah. yeah. exactly.

i see a lot of it in my own community. you know, people feeling they're, somehow, not going to be impacted. real quickly and then we are out of time. donald trump, on saturday, tweeted about what he called lockdowns, which are really restrictions, not full lockdowns. saying, you know, far more than the damage that would be caused by the virus, itself. what goes through your mind when you see the president say things like that? i mean, without restrictions, the already-staggering death toll would be much worse. >> that's correct, michael. it's very concerning to me, as a health care professional, that's already seen such an impact here with this virus. so, my concern is that it puts a false sense of security to the american people. thinking that mass gatherings and congregation is okay. and, therefore, you don't need a lockdown. you don't need restrictions. we know, for a fact, that having those universal masks are necessary, having lockdowns, having restrictions put into place to prevent those mass gatherings, to prevent congregation, is vital to

decreasing transmission of this virus. >> always good to see you. thank you so much for your expertise. >> thank you, michael. >> we are going to take a quick break here on the program. when we come back on cnn "newsroom." vaccinations begin in the european union but getting those shots to people is far from the only obstacle. we will have the details for you, when we come back. andrew: we had to stay in the hospital for 10 weeks, 1000s of miles from family. our driver kristin came along in our most desperate hour. suzanne: bringing us home-cooked meals and gifts. andrew: day after day. we wanted to show you something. kristin: oh my god! andrew: kristin is the most uncommonly kind person that we've met. suzanne: thank you so much.

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oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. and welcome back to our viewers here, in the united states, and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. you are watching cnn "newsroom." now, many people, in nashville, tennessee, will never forget christmas, 2020, although

they probably wish they could. but now, at least some answers about the friday-morning rv explosion that gouged out part of downtown might be forthcoming. investigators believe the blast was, likely, a suicide bombing. the fbi says there's no indication of any other suspects. saturday, the case took them to a home just outside the city. an rv that might be the one that exploded was photographed there, last year. and cnn's natasha chen was there when federal agents searched the home. she has more, now, from antioch, tennessee. >> reporter: federal investigators have been at this property, most of saturday. and left in the early evening, after hours of work. the fbi tell us that this was court-authorized activity. first, we saw a bomb-technician team come and clear the property to make sure it was safe to enter. and then, we saw an evidence team come in, and spend hours going in and out of the house.

this fence line, behind me, surrounds a yard. and we did see them go into that yard, through a side door. what we understand is that they were meticulously going through, documenting, and photographing, what they saw inside the house, as it was. and then, we did see them take out bags of evidence. neighbors were very perplexed to see all this going on. they did tell me that they have seen an rv parked at this property. when we showed them images from google street view of this property, in years past, when an rv has been parked there, they did recognize that one. one neighbor said they saw it here, over the summer. another neighbor saying, it's been parked here as recently as the last few weeks. now, the marking of that rv is similar. similar to the one that was involved in the explosion downtown. a law enforcement source, however, tells cnn they can't be entirely sure because, of course, the one involved in the explosion was destroyed in the blast. natasha chen, cnn, antioch, tennessee.

now, the eu was hoping to have its first, coronavirus vaccinations on sunday. but in fact, some countries were able to start a day early. slovakia. among those that began vaccinating, ahead of schedule. a member of the country's pandemic commission became the first there to get the pfizer-biontech shot. germany, also, kicking off its vaccination program, on saturday. france and others will start, shortly, as planned. now, joining us from rome, as well as standing by in valencia, spain. bobby, let's start with you. italy, of course, was the first coronavirus epicenter, outside of china. so, an important day for the -- for the country, as the numbers there get worse. >> that's absolutely right. you know, in so many ways, it has come full circle now today. and while it's largely symbolic there are only 9,750 vaccines in

italy right now. the rest will be arriving monday and they will start the full-fledged, full-country vaccination program. this is so important for this country which, as you said, was the original epicenter, outside of china. the people going under lockdown, under lockdown now over the christmas holiday. under lockdown for four days. completely, red zone across the country as this vaccination process begins. and as you said, it's so, so important for italians to see this glimmer of hope, as the vaccination process begins. >> and -- and real quick, bobby, of course, it comes across -- against the backdrop of italy now having more deaths in this wave, than the first wave, which -- which was so terrible. >> that's absolutely right. you know, there are more than 71,000 people have lost their lives in this country right now. more than half of those happened in the second wave. italy was largely untouched over the summer. the case numbers were down. the deaths were in the single digits. but then, in the fall, like so many other places across europe,

the second wave has been just so much worse than the first wave. michael. >> barbie, in rome. really appreciate that. thanks so much. want to go, now, to atik atika schubert, standing by in valencia, spain, for us. what are the rollout plans there? what are you expecting to see? >> well, the first doses actually arrived late, christmas night, with a police escort for security. they'll begin with the rollout plan in gouadalajara. that's in the center of spain. and then, we will see other rollouts happening in the other 17, autonomous communities, here in spain. now, plan is to try and get as many people vaccinated in the next 12 weeks. so, every week, spain will be getting 350,000 doses of the vaccine. in the next 12 weeks, it will get more than four and a half million. and the hope is that they will be able to vaccinate more than

2.2 million people, in that time. it's a staggering effort. it's really the largest vaccination program the country has ever attempted. certainly, the quickest rollout. and the focus is going to be on the elderly, especially those in care homes. those who, also, getting extra support in care homes because they really suffered the most, at the peak of the pandemic. the other focus will be on getting the vaccine to medical frontline workers. also, health and sanitation workers. and they've all been equally distributed, across the different communities here, in spain. largely, based on the population but, also, depending on the number of elderly and frontline workers they have. but it's a massive effort. and it should be starting with the very first patient, any minute now, michael. >> which is good news. i wanted to ask you, too. a lot of countries in europe, including spain, are concerned about this new, uk variant that -- that -- that's arrived. what's the concern there?

>> yeah. i mean, you know, spain has a lot of visitors from the uk. there is a lot of traffic back and forth. so there was a lot of concern when this new variant popped up. on saturday, the madrid health authorities confirmed that they had found four cases of the uk variant, in the city region. they said, however, that the cases did not seem to be serious. they know that this new variant is more transmissible. but that, in each of these cases, the patients didn't seem to be suffering any severe conditions of the virus. they did point out, as well, that two of the cases had recently traveled to britain. so, at the moment, it does seem to be contained. michael. >> it's good news. atika shubert, there in valencia, spain. and bobby nadot in rome. appreciate the reporting. israel begins another lockdown as infections surge there but the new lockdown will

allow schools remain open. restaurants can, also, remain open for delivery. now, this is the third lockdown for the nation. it'll last two weeks. back in april, cnn was at a coronavirus icu in tel aviv. earlier this week, we returned to that hospital to cover the first day of vaccinations for medical staff. elliot gotkin takes us there. >> reporter: it felt like a party. but what the dancing doctors and health workers were celebrating was the start of israel's covid-vaccination campaign. among them. >> it's a very happy day for me, today. and i think, for all over the world, it's a happy day. i hope this is the beginning of the end of the virus. >> reporter: when cnn's oren liebermann visited the icu here in april, israel was in the

throes of its first covid wave. the death rate was low, back then. fewer than 200. but the battle against covid was only just beginning. >> the virus -- humble and a lot of compassion and it's just a virus but not just a virus. something much bigger. >> reporter: bigger, even than dr. nimrod may have feared. since the pandemic struck this country, nearly 380,000 people have come down with covid. more than 3,000 have died. >> sometimes, i felt helpless against this virus. so, i really, really pray that this nightmare, medical nightmare, will pass away. >> reporter: and though cases here are back at more than 3,000 a day, israelis will be hoping the vaccination campaign will help push those numbers down. and that the countries and the world's deadly dance with this disease will, soon, be a thing

of the past. elliot gotkin, cnn, tel aviv. >> all right. quick break here on the program. when we come back. the georgia senate runoff election is close. very close. but president trump's approach to the stimulus bill is complicating things for the republican candidates. we'll have that, next. committeda difference in people's lives. my team helped expand the benefits of reflective technology, so it's highly visible when it needs to be, and less visible when it doesn't. whether you're hard at work or heading home for dinner, it's there when it matters most. we know that what we do helps more people get home safely. at 3m, we aspire to improve lives. ♪ at 3m, we aspire twe like clockwork.ht. do it! run your dishwasher with cascade platinum. and save water.

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the u.s. president's decision not to sign the $900 billion stimulus bill is putting georgia senate republican candidates in a pretty tough spot. david perdue and kelly loeffler are fighting to keep their senate seats in runoff elections. they are running as fierce, trump loyalists. but they supported the stimulus bill that mr. trump just rejected and the stakes here are high. the results of georgia's january

5 elections will determine which party controls the u.s. senate. ryan nobles, with more. >> reporter: president trump continues to send mixed signals about that big bill passed by congress, that's designed to send $900 billion in coronavirus relief to millions of americans. that includes $600 in direct payments to most americans. and it's really complicating things for the two republicans running in the georgia senate runoff. both, david perdue and kelly loeffler voted for that legislation. in fact, the day after it was passed, david perdue was up on the air, in georgia, with ads bragging that he delivered coronavirus relief to those who needed it. the problem is that bill has yet to be signed into law, so that relief has not come. and his opponent, jon ossoff, is pouncing on that fact. he sent a letter to television stations in atlanta saying that they need to take that ad down because it is false.

demonstrably, false, because the aid is not on its way and hasn't been delivered because the president has yet to sign it into law. now, this is just an example of how complicated things have been for these republican candidates dealing with president trump's erratic behavior, in addition to this coronavirus relief. the president, also, vetoed the national defense authorization act. that's something that both perdue and loeffler supported. and, of course, he continues to make baseless claims about the way that the election in georgia was conducted in november. claiming there was rampant fraud, despite the fact that the republican officials who ran the election in georgia said that there was no fraud that the president is claiming. so now, these republicans are in a tight spot because they need the president and his supporters to come out and vote, in a big way. but the president is contradicting them, it seems, at almost every turn. ryan nobles, cnn, washington. still ahead. the rush to build a border wall, before the presidency ends. a boom for security? or environmental disaster? we'll discuss.

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presidency. now supporters, of course, applaud that effort. but activists call it a disaster, an environmental catastrophe unfolding at that border. cnn's ed lavandera reports. >> reporter: if you want a taste of life on the arizona/mexico border, ride shotgun in kelly kimbrough's 1992 desert ford beaten pickup truck. >> we're not big ranchers. we have a couple of ranches. >> reporter: it's hard to tell where united states ends and mexico begins. this year that changed. the trump administration is carving a 19-mile wall right through this wide-open valley. what's it like to see this massive construction project on your property? >> we did not think it was necessary. >> reporter: construction crews moved in about a year ago. this is what the wall looked like across the san bernardino

valley in february. this is what it looks like today. some see it as a long scar. >> the american taxpayer doesn't see. they hear "build that wall, it's going to secure this country." i promise you it's never going to secure the country, not any better than it's already secured. >> reporter: in the final weeks of the trump presidency, the rush is on to finish building at least 450 miles of the border wall. customs and border protection officials say at least 438 miles of that are now complete. as the coronavirus pandemic raged this year, border wall construction never stopped. for months, anti-wall activists have documented what they describe as an environmental catastrophe unfolding along the southern border. crews blasting and bulldozing through rugged mountainous terrain. border patrol officials say the new walls are vital to patrolling these remote regions. >> good infrastructure buys us more time, gives us the critical

seconds and minutes that we need to get to an area. but as of how, a lot has been erected and we're hoping it pays off dividends. >> reporter: the army corps of engineers says eight border wall projects have been finished with crews actively working around the clock on 37 other projects. >> good evening, my fellow americans. >> reporter: the question is what happens when president-elect joe biden takes office? biden has pledged he would not build another foot of border wall. >> there's construction that is taking place that's going to go up this mountain -- >> reporter: brandon judd leads the national border patrol council. the union has been a vocal ally of president trump. judd says it would be foolish for biden to stop the construction now. >> you can see that that trench that goes straight up that line, those are the footers. what you're going to throw that away? that doesn't make any sense, you're throwing money down the toilet. >> you can't flat walk in anymore. >> reporter: halting construction isn't enough for some anti-wall activists. >> take the wall down in the areas that we need it to be

taken downright away. >> reporter: we hiked to this border wall gate stretching the san pedro riverbed in arizona with environmentalist kate scott. she says this construction is a deadly threat to wildlife that migrates through this area. >> i can tell you, we wake up, we cry, we steady ourselves, and we get to work. because it's been so painful for me to witness this monstrosity. >> reporter: but the wall also isn't being built fast enough for jim chillton. >> international boundary, yeah. >> this isn't the kind of wall you want? >> no. >> reporter: his ranch fans out across 50,000 acres in arizona. chillton is lobbying for a wall on this spot. he says it's a low-priority area because it's remote, but he has the ear of the border wall's biggest cheerleader. president trump put chillton in the spotlight during a rally last year. >> mr. president, we need a wall. [ cheers and applause ]

>> i offered the federal government 10 acres of land over here, my private property, to have a forward operation base. i offered it for a dollar a year. and i even told them, i'll give you the dollar if you can't find one. >> you've made the border patrol, the federal government, an offer that you thought they couldn't refuse? >> they said they would study it. that was four years ago. >> reporter: chillton's ranch sits between a 25-mile gap in existing border wall, and he says it's prime terrain for drug smugglers. he's deployed hidden cameras to capture what he says are more than 1,000 images of camouflaged smugglers. >> my ranch as no man's land controlled by the cartel. >> reporter: spending a year sounding@left arm about border wall construction in arizona. >> this is political theater. it does nothing to stop people or drugs from crossing the border. >> reporter: he drove us around

organ pipe cactus national monument, a breathtaking national park in the heart of the sonoran desert. the tranquility of the landscape broken by the sounds of crews building thor than 60 miles of wall, part of it through this national park. he calls himself a disaster tour guide. >> they're pulling out all the stops to rush this project through. this is all trash. >> reporter: he used to work as a u.s. national park ranger at the organ pipe national monument in arizona. he resigned after president trump took office. >> it's an insult to those of us who live here, seeing our communities ripped apart, ecosystems destroyed. we don't care what you call it, this is a disaster. >> reporter: ed lavandera along the thest/mexico border. >> i'm ian holmes. kim brunhuber is here with more "cnn newsroom." falsies lash lift mascara

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everyone to get a total value of over eight thousand four hundred dollars on this silverado. get the chevy employee discount for everyone today. donald trump is refusing to sign the coronavirus stimulus package, and millions of americans are about to feel the pain. new information about the explosion in nashville leads to perplexing questions. the pandemic's deadliest month. ooeps as vaccines are distributed, covid-19 has killed more americans in december than in any other month. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada, and around the world. i'm ki