week from today. it is the day before the senate run off election. get some signs from where exactly he's going, dalton, georgia, it is the county the president won by 70%. it is a reminder that this run off for the republican side is about trying to turn out the base here, white evangelicals among them. >> future ca fascinating reporting. thank you so much for joining us. "ac 360" starts right now. good evening to you, jim sciutto sitting in for anderson tonight. now goes to the senate where many republicans opposed even that original $600. the president as you know refused to sign the cares act until last night saying he was

holding out for the extra money. this despite having showing little interests in the bill at all until after it passed congress. jobless benefits are expiring for millions of americans. people like megan mayor, a single mother in lincoln, nebraska, with two teenagers to feed. >> i go to a discount grocery store and spend $50 for three people. >> it is a rough adjustment for my kids. i just been trying to plug through it and get through the best that we can and just been holding on for something better to come my way with help from the government. >> well, she's going to have to hold out longer and it is a fact because of direct results of president trump and his 13th hour games.

many will lose out one-week of payment because of his action and they'll never get that money back. some will have to reply for benefits and that takes time. if the president truly wanted to help people like miss meyer and everyone else and not just the employees who are counting on the cares act, he did have alternatives. he could have signed the bill on time and push for more money,. e he had months. to be clear of months to do this but he didn't. that's not all he chose not to do. he did not say a word about this being the deadliest of the pandemic so far. this is about 60,000 people dead

already. he did not address how slowly this vaccination effort is going so far. nor did he send out a single tweet about this christmas bombing in nashville, tennessee, for the work that federal law enforcement did in quickly identifying the suspect. that's easing the transmission to a new administration. here is what his successor said about that. >> we have encountered roadblocks and the political leadership of the department of defense and the office of the budget. right now we just are not getting all the information that we need wifrom the out going administration. it is nothing short of my view of irresponsibility. >> how has the president been spending is time in office these days? >> well, he continues to send out numerous tweets calling for the election for your votes to overturn and he keeps fund

raising to 554 e-mails, since election night, many are asking for small donations and most to be cheer goes to his own leadership pack, not towards challenging the election. that's key. of course, he's still golfing. same as yesterday and same as christmas' eve. more than 300 days at his own golf club. some breaking news tonight, the house voting toov override to vo the bill. cnn's kaitlan collins is joining us now. this override and pushing forward of covid relief defeat for the president as well. are the political ties turning even among republicans in congress? >> oh, we lost kaitlan's audio.

once we have it we'll bring her back. reaction to the house covi d vote. >> congressman, i just wonder given what you are facing as a republican and there are costs to this, right, political cost, why? why are you taking such a forthright stay? >> so i don't want to sound like i am trying to be add venn yovei

decided to run for congress in '09 time frame. i said you know if we are going to ask young men and women to put their life on the country. and i have said my years in congress that we have to be able to make tough votes because we are asking people to put their life on the line and put our careers on the line. this is especially so right now. this is not about whether you like donald trump or you like his policies anymore. this is all about are you undermining the very institutions of a free and fair election that's so very important to the foundation of democracy and the survival of this democracy that's well worth putting everything online to tell the truth. >> to your credit, you called out this ongoing fight as a self-interested attempt to raise money. when it comes to president trump

specifici specifically, you tweeted "my god trying to burn it down on p the way out." what damage is the president doing here? as you note some people still buy it. you are going to have a portion of this country who believes without basis that the election was stolen. >> yeah, i think the long-term is more of a long-term damage. i think in the short term, there is going to be a transition of power and it will not be pretty in the meantime as we have been seeing. i do worry of the potential for violence on january 6th. the long-term or medium term damage here, if you believe your vote does not count or the system is rigged or some cases you believe it is satan running the u.s. government, ultimately, you are going to lash out not just on twitter but there are

going to be people lashing out v violently. jim, you have been to war areas and i have, too. people saying things like that have no clue what war is and the medicine they rely on staying alive will go missing. >> we have seen the consequences of civil war. it is real. it is not something that exists in twitter land. you mentioned january 6th, the president is still calling for protests on that day. there was violence a couple of weeks ago in d.c. when some of these supporters turned out here. do you sense at all that this drive is fading? the new york post today, the

president said "get over it." is it fading? you have sitting members of congress who sits next to you in the chambers who still say they'll challenge these results on january 6th. >> i don't think the idea of challenging the results kind of fade. the reality is, i can't imagine any of these people except for brand new members coming in don't understand how stuff works in terms of government. i don't think they think this is a legitimate move. if they do is frightening, actually. it is all about raising money, it is all about being the hero and getting the donation and getting a good follower so you can have some kind of influence, that's what this operation is. i am not trying to boast sides here. you see the drama coming from democrats and republicans and you raise money on fear and you create fear or to raise money. look, to some extent we do have to talk about the negative

things in this country but when we only talk about that, we only are teaching our kids in america of some flawed country, how are we expecting kids to restore the sanity in politics that we grew up with. >> watch those fund raising e-mails and look for the fine prints. final question, different topic, president trump finally signed the covid relief bill, that'll send $600 to millions of americans, his delay in signing the bill got him nothing. but now you do have democrats voting as well to increase that payment to $2,000. something that the president has pushed forward. does that have any legs in the house or the senate? >> it is possible, i voted for that increase, it is barely under suspension. i don't know what's going to happen in the senate. i think we are in a unique time where people need the money.

here is the deal. the president never said his position from the beginning. it was all a guessing game. by the way, also nancy pelosi had the opportunity in the fall to get it done. she made it clear about the election. this was not about pointing fingers. we need a clean reset how we do politics. start respecting each other again and grow up. that's probably pretty wish ffu thinking. >> if only we can teach our children betterle lessons by better examples. >> more ahead, two top political operators lay out where this all goes from here and what the president may do between now and inauguration day. it is a question, later what that dangerous new coronavirus strain could do if it takes off here in the u.s. when it comes to autism,

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the house tonight has green-lit the bigger federal covid relief check that the president is pushing for. it is unclear if it will get anywhere in the senate, the gop controls the senate. millions of americans are losing money they need right now due to his delay in signing the bill. they won't get that money back. there is that and the pandemic itself and the president's obsession with overturning the election. joining us now senate eric santor santorum, senator son e ersaor . some of this is not retro

active. what's game here? >> the fact that he went ahead and signed these two bills there is not a really good reason to held off. he conflated the two bills. it is just -- the president's angry and he's not acting in his own best interest in my opinion with these two delays and not moving these bills forward. i don't think he's acting his best interests when it comes to vetoing on the national defense in the house. there is important things in there for military that needs to be done right away. these are very important bills that are compromised bills. the president supported it other than the section 230 until it makes no sense for him.

>> senator sanders threatening to delay theover riding in order to push $2,000 stimulus check. you have this odd overlap and the president's goal here and some democrats. does that go anywhere in your view or does it run into republican opposition in the senate. >> maybe the most conservative place in georgia and he's going to campaign for kelly loeffler and david perdue, two senators. georgia has fort benning and the greatest military in the world, did they vote for trump or the troops? it puts him in a terrible spot.

do they vote for nancy pelosi or stick with mitch mcconnell? i don't really care if he's not aki acting in his own interests. i don't really care. that's not a partisan view at all. the extra money for emergency, he's just hurting the people who's paying his salary. he's hurting his party's chances to hold the senate. >> senate ersor santorum, do yo the political win shifting within the republican party here. >> you have the house overriding the veto. but, particularly as we get closer to january 6th when the president is still pushing some

allies on the hill to attempt to block the senate rather than congress affirming the electoral college vote. do you sense the political winds shifting against him among republicans? >> well, look, the national defense authorization act is widely bipartisan exercised throughout both in the house and the senate, i think the president just picked the wrong one you. i don't think it was as political wind shift. i just think he picked the wrong bill to veto. it is clear to everybody that the president is not going to win this election. and nothing is going to happen on january 6th to overturn it. and members are going to look past this election and start looking at their own future. >> he lost.

and he's president-elect biden, the current administration despite that is putting up his words roadblocks in the transition process. this is happening days after u.s. suicide bomber on the streets of nashville. a couple of weeks it was discovered russia carried out a deeply damaging and they're still assessing the damage of a massive cyber attack that the president still have not commented on. that has consequenc consequencc >> absolutely, we have enemies in america and enemies in russia and china. isis and al-qaeda, they know that we are vulnerable in these transitions. al-qaeda bombed the u.s. in the

final month of the clinton administration and they attacked the next bush administration. our enemies know that we are vulnerable at these moments. to trump and his appointees at the defense department to be putting up roadblocks to president-elect biden being able to protect our country is really, really unconscionable. i guess, you know, i come to expect the worst from trump but it is worse than i expected. >> what's your answer to that? it is a subject of bipartisan agreement. if russia does not america's best interests at heart and terror attacks or violent attacks on america's soils. you don't have the president getting out in front of this and saying definitively this will not span.

do republicans agree? >> i think the president is in a transition himself and i think he's very clearly transitioned away from the day-to-day, you know, speaking out on issues that's not to mean his administration continuing to function and the fbi has done a terrific job in nashville so it is not like the people are not doing their job. it is just the president is not doing what we are used to which is commenting on everything every moment of the day and he's fixated on one thing that is this election. i understand the president, look at what happens to him four years ago and investigating him. >> that's an unfair equivalency.

president obama invited him to the white house and hillary clinton conceded to him. >> the president views this as and i think and it could be wrong. the president views this as the other side getting their own medicine denying the legitimacy of his election. this is part of the president's grievances of what happened to him and this is coming forward at a time you would expect. >> listen, part of a longer conversation there was a special counsel who did discover wrong-doing and there were charges from that investigation. >> rick and paul, thank you very much both of you. >> thank you. breaking news at this hour as america sets another record with people hospitalized with the virus, vaccinations are stepping up. a new variant of the virus begun

in england now spreading around the globe and later you recall those jarring images from last march died in a washington state nursing home. we'll bring you an update from the epicenter from the first pandemic crisis. ♪

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more than 19 million americans have now been diagnosed with the virus. the death toll sadly approaching 335,000. more than 121,000 people are hospitalized tonight with the

virus surpassing the number set on christmas eve, even so record number of passengers passing through the airports nearly 1.3 million travelers. the cdc says 2.1 million vaccine doses now have been administered so far. the officials in charge of testing, admiral brett believes the number is under his total. the new variant detected in the united kingdom believed to be here in this country. perspective now with dr. wen. good to have you on. >> put this new variant into context for us. it is showing up in other countries. it is not a new strain, it is a new variant. this is how viruses developed.

how concerned should people be about this? >> i think people should be concerned. here is the good news, this new variant, the one in the u.k. as well as the one in south africa do not appears -- if you get this variant, does not mean that you won't be hospitalized or to die, it is more trans missible. more people are going to get it and hospitalize and die from it. the vaccines appear that it should work on this variant as much. >> i was going to ask you that. the current vaccine still protect you or protect people vaccinated from the new variant. >> there is no reason for us to believe they'll not be protected. studies are being done and most scientists estimating there is no reason they should not work

against these variants. >> we have the moderna and pfizer vaccines. tell us what this means about vaccines availability as you have more options in effect become available overtime. >> vaccine production is a limiting factor so i am glad that novax is starting their trial here in the u.s. and johnson and johnson and astraseneca, the more vaccines that we have will be better. >> so far 2.1 million vaccines administered in the u.s. focused on frontline healthcare workers and beginning to go out in nursing homes.

dr. fauci of course he's very conservative to his approach to all this. that likely under estimates the actual number of people vaccinated. you are concerned this is a warning sign that vaccines is not being rolled out fast enough, tell us why. >> i think a lot of us are having flash backs to testing and ppe when president trump and the administration said everyone who needs a test can get one. i am not sure if we are getting close to that nine months or ten months into the pandemic. i am concerned this is part of the play book again and diffusing responsibilities and turning up our hands saying we at the federal government did our part but local and state governments don't have resources are not doing theirs. at that rate at a two-dose vaccine for us to reach 80% herd

immunity in the u.s. for vaccination, it will take us ten years at a rate of a million vaccine in a week. if we want to get there within six months, we need to be doing 3.5 million vaccinations a day and not a million a week. >> to your point, this country's record on testing not a good ability to get it out there. >> dr. wen, thank you very much. back in early march at the beginning of this pandemic, most americans were jolted in reality by pictures like this, video stretchers taken out of a nursing home and 39 deaths were associated with the coronavirus. remarkable pictures somehow today seems a lifetime ago. today the virus vaccine arrived at that same nursing home a moment of hope, cnn's sara

sidner. >> reporter: these were the first people in the united states to go to war with the new virus without weapons to fight it. ten months into the pandemic, they are finally getting the most powerful weapon available, a vaccine. >> what is this is day like for you? >> what i feel right now is a new life. a new beginning but a better life. >> this was the first epicenter of america's coronavirus outbreak. >> reporter: registered nurse chelsea earnest could not get the memory of what happened that day. >> five balanambulances in the parking lot. patients were dying. 39 pay she watients died and tet the facility. >> there were many that i had to call they're going out to the hospital or they did not make

it. >> reporter: the trauma of those days in march and the family members cry, several members spoke to cnn. they begged government agencies for help and received little. >> did you get what you need when you needed it? >> no. no. >> reporter: testing took days to get results and now they have a rapid test that takes minutes. initially the staff was blamed for not controlling the outbreak by just about everyone. >> what kind of threats? >> all kinds of death threats and we ended up getting security. >> reporter: threats of funding at a fine of $611,000. inspectors say -- putting them in immediate jeopardy. state inspectors reported

similar findings. the state combined little evidence that the facility actually fail to meet any care or fail to follow public health guidelines. it is still pending. ten months after the initial chaos of the outbreak, the closest we could get was a look from the outside in. in-person visits are still forbidding. the chairs outside used by family to communicate in march is a permanent fixture here. several of the nursing homes. >> there is not a day that goes by where i don't get a phone call or message that we have a new positive patient or staff. >> reporter: coronavirus is still killing patients and sickening staff? >> yes. absolutely.

>> reporter: this day is one of the most hopeful days they had. >> i have one resident who last week asked me if she can fwget e vaccination. i said sure, you can. unfortunately, she passed away. i did promise her that she would get it but sad she didn't get to get it today. >> too late for her. sara is joining us now. those images from that facility seemed a lifetime ago. since the outbreak ravaged that nursing home, how many americans have died? the story that remains an enormous concern. >> reporter: it absolutely is and a great question. look, the nurses and the staff here knew once they figured out what was going on. it was a matter of time when testing became available that

other nursing homes would find they have a problem, too. the numbers that we have so far from the federal agency that oversees nursing homes is more than 86,000 nursing hoemg residents in america have died from coronavirus. >> jim. >> these are people's parents and grandparents. they are husbands and wives. sarah sidner, thank you so much. this crucial senate run-off are eight days away. run-offs which democrats have historically fall short. i am going to speak with candidate jon ossoff battling david perdue as the campaign enters the final stretch.

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president trump signed the relief bill. the georgia run-off election, the president is scheduled to appear in a rally a week from today, one day before the election. it is part of a final push in races that have seen more than half a billion dollars in ads spending so far. i am joined by one of the two candidates. mr. ossoff, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> david perdue urged the president signing this stimulus bill, now that the president comes around, does that remove for you an important talking point in this election? >> no.

to the contrary i am calling on senator perdue tonight to endorse 2,000 relief checks for the american people to join president trump and president-elect biden and members of his own party who c recognize that the people are hurting and credit cards are maxed out and rent past due and prescription drugs can't be afforded now. people have hurting on their own. it has been eight months of our government neglect and incompetence putting so many families in dire straights and perdue should come out and supporting the $2,000 relief check. the senate should pass it in 48 hours. >> it is a remarkable. bernie sanders threatened to veto on the defense bill in order to push for the $2,000

payment as well. are you saying that the president got it right here holding out $600 than $2,000. >> it is not just president trump. president-elect biden is also pushing for $2,000. it is what the people need. the same guy on the phone buying medical and vaccine stocks to profit from this pandemic opposed even the first round of $1,200 checks and now he's touting a $600 payment like he saved the day? he has no concept of how much pain his own constituents are in and he needs to reverse his opposition of $2,000 relief check. that's what the people demanding. as i said the senate needs to act right now to pass these $2,000 checks. >> as i mentioned in the introduction, we are nearly half a billion dollars spending on this race by both parties.

if we learn one thing, spending a lot of money in senate races, a lot of races where democrats far out weighs the republican opponent still lost the seat, spending money does not translate to votes. are you seeing money and resources focus in georgia and what actually works and registration and getting people out to vote. >> yes. we are making unprecedented investment in turn out and mobilization and voter protection. there is movement energy right now. democrats are excited. here is what people really need to understand. first of all, republican combined spending is vastly more than democratic spending. more to the point, republicans are filing a lawsuit after lawsuit to disenfranchise black voters in georgia. they're trying to segregate new

registrars. it is voter suppression at its worse. i am asking everybody out there to support our efforts to protect the franchise in georgia. no vote is suppressed and no georgians are disenfranchised. they get people registered and motivate republican voters. do you wish you saw more of president-elect biden and vice preside president-elect harris before the run off election. >> they both been here and deeply grateful for their presence and president trump's rally spreading covid. we are at an inflection point and in the midst of a public health crisis demanding relief

payments to the american people, free testing and vaccinations and resources for hospital systems and nursing homes. we need to enact landmark civil rights and legislation. we need to invest in infrastructure and clean energy to rebuild our environment. we need to pass legislation that tangibly helping people. there are a lot of goods we could do. mitch mcconnell will block all of that. the stakes are so high and they're trying to suppress black voters in georgia. they're right right now in court. i am asking people to protect the franchise here. >> jon ossoff, thank you so much for joining us. >> new video of the christmas day bombing in nashville. look at the after math there. the latest on the motive of the suspect who died in the bombing.

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welcome back. we mentioned at the top of the broadcast that president trump has not spoken publically about the christmas day bombing in nashville. joe biden, however, praised first responders there and new video of when that bombing happened has just been released. >> well, it sounds like a war zone. a nashville police officer just a short distance away when that bomb went off, investigators know the name of their only suspect. just not the motivation. investigators say the suspect's mother has been cooperative and one of the suspect's neighbors tells cnn just before christmas the individual told him, quote, i'm going to be so famous nashville won't ever forget me.

we don't want to give the suspects the attention they often want. however, in the report you are about to hear, we name the suspect adds investigators are still searching for more information about him. martin savage has the latest. >> reporter: it's a blast that shook an entire city and captured the attention of an entire country. the accounts of the first officers on the scene before that blast only add to the mystery of the man police believe was inside that rv playing a recording. >> if you can hear this message, back away now. >> there is a large bomb within this vehicle. your primary objective is to evacuate. >> reporter: there was also the music. officer james wells heard the music and a voice inside of him told him to turnaround. >> the music stopped. as i'm walking back, i just see orange and i hear a loud boom. >> reporter: six nashville

police officers are considered hear rows for going door to door and warning residents to get out before the blast and some are wondering if there is significance about where the explosion occurred in front of an at&t telephone facility, knocking out phone to much of the region. did the alleged bomber have a par know yeah of 5g service, something widely talked about online. >> we can't speculate on that now. >> reporter: federal agents combing through the rubble three days before the blast. 63-year-old anthony quinn warner alleged perpetrator. they are still seeking motive. >> right now there is no indication that any other persons were involved. >> reporter: the reality company where he did freelance it work said earlier this month the alleged bomber told them he was retiring. in the community where he lived, residents say the first sign

something was wrong was when law enforcement trucks showed up at his home friday night. neighbors say they knew about the rv seen here on google street view at his house that appears to match the ones appeared on cameras at 1:22 christmas day. authorities say the alleged bomber was not previously known to him. >> he was not on our radar. >> reporter: somehow he was able to gather the components and materials to make his powerful bomb without ever triggering warning signs to law enforcement. >> unfortunately it's not that hard in this country to assemble the chemicals and the equipment you need to construct an improvised explosive device. >> you know, it was very quick on the part of authorities to be able to identify the bomber. but it's clear, jim, it will take them longer to try to

discern what his motive really was. now there are clues. for instance, where that rv was parked, directly in front of that crucial communication switching building. was that the target? a lot of people are speculating it might have been. it's certainly curious why the vehicle was there. but authorities right now are not commenting publically about it but you can bet they're definitely looking into that aspect. and the other question, how did he get the explosives and the equipment he needed without anyone apparently knowing. jim? >> yeah. the nashville mayor said folks in nashville know that's the at&t headquarters. has been for 100 years. good to have you on the ground. thanks very much. more breaking news ahead. as we reported at the top of the program, the house votes to increase the money in those stimulus checks and also hands president trump a defeat on his veto of the pentagon funding act. details when "360" continues. when it comes to autism,

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breaking news now from capitol hill. the house of representatives dealt president trump a stunning defeat tonight, voting with plenty of room to share to override his veto of the national defense act. they also passed a measure to increase stimulus payments from the $600 so far approved to $2,000. phil mattingly there for us. a big question of course what happens in the senate here. one on stimulus. is there republican interest in going up to $2,000. and will republicans in the senate also override the president's veto on the defense bill. >> we'll start with the former first because they're starting to comingle here. yes, there is some republican interest on increasing those direct payments up to $2,000. marco rubio came out saying he supported it. but it is not if there is republican interest. it is what is mitch mcconnell going to do? he will term what happens next on those stimulus payments.

senator bernie sanders been pushing for those increased payments. he is now threatening to hold up senate work on the veto override of the national defense override if mitch mcconnell doesn't put a straight up or down vote. we're dealing with a procedural back and forth. the senate is almost certain to override the veto of the president. it is just a matter of when, not if. the bigger question right now is can senator sanders, can other republicans supportive of expanding those payments push mitch mcconnell to put that on the floor. keep a close eye on the two georgia senators currently in a run-off. they have been driving a lot of mcconnell's actions up to this point trying to maintain his position asthma j majority lead. >> we have john ossof running against purdue. phil mattingly on the hill, thanks very much.

and the news continues. "cnn tonight" starts right now. this is cnn breaking news. >> this is "cnn tonight." i'm in this hour for my friend chris cuomo who is taking much needed time off. the house narrowly passing stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000. it now goes to the senate after the president's sign off on the $900 billion relief package last night. after days of delays and calling the bill a disgrace. the president calls it chaos as he waited to sign the deal, allowing unemployment benefits to lapse for millions of jobless americans. the deal was one that his own team, by the way, helped to negotiate. and another important vote tonight to tell you about. the house overriding the