hi, there. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you so much for being with me today. the u.s. officially has its very first known case of this new coronavirus strain. colorado now confirming at least one person is infected with it, and officials there suspect a second person might be sick as well. and while there is no evidence it is more deadly than the original strain, this new covid variant is believed to be more contagious. and of course, it's only adding to concerns over the country's already overwhelmed health care system. just yesterday, the u.s. set staggering, new records. there were more people hospitalized with covid on tuesday than any other day of this pandemic. more than 100,000 -- 124,600

nationwide, according to the covid tracking project, and there were more fatalities reported in a single day than ever before, over 3,700 people. now, of those deaths, that included newly elected republican congressman luke letlo. he was just 41 years young and died just days before being sworn in to represent louisiana's fifth congressional district. i want to begin, though, this hour in colorado, where i just mentioned that first known case of this new covid strain has been confirmed. cnn's stephanie elam is there for us live this afternoon. stephanie, who's infected? what do we know? >> reporter: right. well, first of all, brooke, let me tell you where we are, here in simla, colorado, 100 miles away from denver international airport, so we are far away from a big city. this is a rural county where we are, so that's why it's interesting that we now know we have one confirmed case of this variant and one suspected case,

both tracing back here to this skilled nursing facility. we do know that these two men -- the confirmed case is a 28-year-old man -- and the other man, they were both working here in nonclinical positions, helping out after there was a covid-19 outbreak about 2 1/2 weeks ago. so, they stepped in to help out here. they both got sick. they, at this point, the county does not think there is any reason to be concerned about a spread out further into this area of the county. and on top of it, we also know that the state has sent a team down here to do testing of the people who do live here. there's about 25 residents, as well as the people that work here to test to make sure that this variant has not spread further here. but again, this still leads back to one very large question. this is the first time that we're seeing this variant here in the united states. many of us expected that it would show up here, but maybe not in rural colorado. so, the question is, how did it get here and is the community

spread happening faster than we know? and i have been speaking to, you know, medical professionals and er doctors. i spoke to an er doctor last night in los angeles, and he was saying that this is part of the concern, that this variant, and how it has morphed here, while it may not be more deadly, as you pointed out, it is definitely more contagious, they're seeing. and if this could be behind the rise that we are seeing in many of the cities and states across the nation, if this is leading to that. and if so, are we testing for it enough in the states? and right now, the answer to that question would seem to be no. brooke. >> dr. fauci called it a couple days ago. he was like, listen, this is probably already here in the united states. and i think everyone's concern is, okay, it's here, will the vaccine prevent us from this as well? stephanie, thank you so much for all the reporting out of colorado. we'll get back to that in a second, but let me share this. overnight, britain has become the first country to authorize the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. it is cheaper. it is easier to distribute than others, which is certainly good news. cnn's phil black is live in

london. and phil, del me motell me moree vaccine green light. >> reporter: well, it's those logistical conveniences, brooke, that are the reason why this is being considered something of a game changer, not just for the uk, but internationally as well, globally, particularly for developing countries. there's a lot of hope attached to this particular vaccine, because it doesn't need to be stored at these ultra-low temperatures like the pfizer vaccine, for example. so, it can be moved around. it can be stored more easily, essentially, just in a regular fridge. you can get it to people with a lot less hassle. and so, roll it out more widely. that's the idea. now, the british government has also announced a shift in tactic to make the most of what they believe is the potential of this vaccine. it is a two-dose vaccine course, but instead of prioritizing getting people both doses quickly, they're pushing back the second dose, and they're going to prioritize getting the first dose to as many people as they possibly can as the stock

of the vaccine becomes available. the idea is that that will more quickly build up a certain level of immunity within the broader population, and it will do it relatively quickly. all of this is encouraging some degree of positivity in this country today, what is otherwise a very dark time because of this virus. and the government is making a pretty extraordinary prediction. it believes that come spring, it now has the potential, effectively, to put the coronavirus behind the uk. that is, essentially, get through the worst of it, protect most of the population. this was health secretary hancock speaking earlier today. >> we've got enough of this vaccine on order to vaccinate the whole population. we've got 100 million doses on order. add that to the 30 million doses of pfizer, and that's enough for two doses for the entire population. so, i can now say with confidence that we can vaccinate everyone, except, of course, for

children, because this vaccine has not been trialed on children. >> reporter: now, the idea of doing this in early 2021 is still going to take a lot of work. they have to ramp up the rollout of the vaccine with the early target of a million people a week. they'll have to go further than that, but that is possible. that is a reason for hope in what is otherwise a dark time for this country because of the pandemic. >> no, for you to say that the uk could be putting the worst of covid behind them is quite a significant statement. i am curious, phil, i know the very first person to get this vaccination is now receiving her second dose is there a risk that she would be one of the last to get the second dose in the uk for a little while? >> reporter: yeah, you would think so. so, margaret keenan, the 91-year-old woman who was the first to receive the pfizer vaccine as part of the vaccination program here, say three weeks ago, she has now received that second dose. and yes, because of this switch in tactics, it would seem that

that is not going to happen as regularly or with the same priority that it has up until now. but the government is confident. the officials here are confident that this is the way to go. they believe that the science and the statistics support this, that if you roll out the first dose, people are still getting significant coverage, and in fact, you've got more people getting significant coverage in the short term, fewer people will be falling severely ill, and that will ultimately ease pressure on what is a pretty desperate health system in this country right now. >> phil black, thank you very much, in london. let's talk about all of this with dr. carlos del rio. he is an executive associate dean at emory university school of medicine at grady health systems. so, dr. del rio, always a pleasure, sir. welcome, first and foremost. and let's get to what phil was talking about, about just how big of a game changer this astrazeneca vaccine is, now being approved in the uk, in terms of cost, in terms of distribution. so, just your thoughts on that. and why does it seem that the uk

vaccination approval process is a bit quicker? >> well, i think there are two things. number one, it's great to have yet another vaccine which is reaching the approval point. the more vaccines we're going to have, the better. this is a very good vaccine in the sense that it's easier to distribute and it's also a lot cheaper. so, i think this vaccine is going to be very critical to get vaccine to low and middle-income countries where really very little vaccine has reached so far. it's not that the uk is quicker. what has happened is the companies have to submit their paperwork and their request for approval to regulatory authorities. and as far as i'm concerned, astrazeneca has not submitted their paperwork yet to the fda. they submitted to the uk regulatory authority. and it makes sense. the vaccine was developed by oxford university, so it makes sense that they want to get the uk approval first. >> sure. understand. understand on that. looking ahead to the next administration, the joe biden administration, you know, he's already come out and said it's going to take years for americans to be, you know, for everyone to be vaccinated, if

the pace of administering them remains as the current pace. what can he, what can his administration do differently to speed up the process? >> well, i think we need several things. i think we need transparency. i think we need a national strategy. you know, what the government has done, "operation warp speed" has taken the vaccine and allocated it to the states, but this is really up to the states for how do they allocate it, how do they distribute, how do they vaccinate? i think we need funding. funding is going to be critical. there's simply not enough people working currently in public health to get this out to every single community. and the reality is, we need to set goals and we need to reach those goals. and if we need to get everybody in the u.s. to get at least one dose of vaccine by the summer, we have to be vaccinating about 3 million people a day. and at the current pace, we're not going to get there any time soon. so really, we have to really speed up and scale up the vaccination as a critical component of this response. >> dr. del rio, what about this covid variant that's now

discovered in colorado, you know? the fact that this infected man, in his 20s, had no travel history, you know, raises the possibility that the variant is already well established in his community and maybe elsewhere in the u.s. how concerned are you about this? >> well, you know, i'm concerned, because what it means is that we're not doing enough genomic sequencing in this country to have it picked up early. but quite frankly, we all knew this strain was already here. this is sort of the non-news for those of us that have been following this. we knew it would be here. viruses tend to travel. and by the time you discover it, it's already too late. >> i appreciate that it's not news to you, but dr. del rio, let me just say, for everybody watching saying, wait a second, there's this mutation or variant of a strain in america, it is news to us. and so, when it's news to us, my question for you is, if it is also more contagious, as i'm reading, will this vaccine -- if we all eventually get out and get this vaccine, both the doses, are we going to be safe? >> well, let me give you the details on this strain. this strain's clearly more

contagious, so it's more easy to transmit, and it probably increases the transmission of this virus by about 0.4. so, normally, the virus transmits, one person infects 2 1/2 individuals, assuming that everybody is naive, in other words, never infected or not vaccinated. this virus, probably, increases trance missibility from 2.4 to 2.9. that might not sound like a lot, but in a totally naive population, after ten cycles of transmission, instead of getting 10,000 people infected, now you have 40,000 people infected. so to me, the most important thing this strain means is we really need to hunker down. we have to really stress the three ws of wear a mask, watch your distance, wash your hands. and we really have to not go to places where there's a lot of people in close environments, because congregate settings with poor circulation facilitates transmission of this virus. as far as getting sicker, you don't get sicker with this strain. it's more transmissible, but you

don't get sicker. and as far as we know, the vaccines will work perfectly against this strain. but what i will say is the sooner we can roll out vaccinations and make more of the population immune, the better it will be to control the transmission. so this is another stimulus for me to say, what can we do to really scale up our vaccination? >> no, i appreciate the reality check on this and also just the reminder, as if we needed another one, to hunker down, and those three ws. dr. carlos del rio, thank you for the reminder and great to have you on. >> good to be with you. >> thank you. still ahead here on cnn, officials -- excuse me, official plans from a republican senator to be on the electoral college vote count next week. what that means for the presidential transition and the pressure it puts on other republicans, next. and later, another historic pick for the president-elect's expanding cabinet. who joe biden is nominating for the number two role at the pentagon and what's ahead for the transitions there. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. we'll be right back. i give to shriners hospitals for children

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we are back. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. republican senator josh hawley of missouri announced today that he will object next week when congress convenes to certify the electoral college vote. this will make him the first republican senator to say he will do so. let's go to capitol hill and my colleague there, lauren fox. and lauren, has he said why he'll be doing this? >> reporter: well, essentially, what was expected to become an effort from house republicans -- there were a few of them who wanted to object to the certification of a few electoral college results -- has now become something that is going to erupt in a circus in just a week on capitol hill. essentially, i want to take a step back, because any member,

if they are joined by a senator, can object to the certification of an electoral college result from a state. usually, this is sort of a ceremonial moment on capitol hill when the vice president presides over this whole endeavor, but what we expect to see next week, essentially, is we have josh hawley, who says he will now join with a group of house republicans to object to the electoral college certification in the state of pennsylvania. once that happens, then the joint session of congress will break up, they will each deliberate separately for two hours. so it takes a good amount of time, brooke, out of the day on capitol hill. then they come back together and they have a vote, essentially, on whether or not they will follow through with the electoral college results or whether or not they will allow that objection. now, we don't expect at this moment that this changes the results of the election in any way. we have heard from top republicans, including senator john thune, the majority whip in the senate, who has said this effort is going to go down like,

quote, a shot dog. so, that gives you a sense of just how much republicans in leadership are opposed to anyone moving forward with this. but i will tell you, it puts members in a really tough spot, especially those who are up for re-election in the senate in 2022. you're talking about members who are going to have to make a choice about whether or not they're going to support the president's biggest effort right now, essentially, questioning the results of the election. we know there's no evidence of voter fraud, but looks like some republicans are willing to go down this road anyway, brooke. >> so, what i'm hearing from you, despite the circus, this will not be changing the election results. lauren fox, thank you so much, there on capitol hill. let's discuss this with cnn senior political reporter nia-malika henderson. and nia, good to see you, friend. >> good to see you. >> josh hawley, how significant is this, is his voice, is his opposition? >> listen, i think in some ways, this was expected. you've seen movement in the house towards this, so the big question was whether or not they would get a senator to join in.

you'd already had the incoming senator from alabama, tommy tuberville, say that he was going to object. so, now that there's josh hawley, they have enough to gum up the works, enough people to gum up the works. they don't have enough, as you said before, to actually overturn the results of the election. we know that on january 20th, the new president will be biden. the outgoing president will be president trump. i think what we will see from these republicans is they are trying to, essentially, line up to be president trump fanboys so they can be in a good place in 2024. >> there you go. >> for, you know, running for president. i think that's what this is about. >> that's what i wanted to get to. >> -- lines up. >> what this is really, really about. like, peel back the layers. what are the personal ambitions at play here for senator hawley. so, what would he be looking for come 2024, if trump follows through with this thing? >> right. if he follows -- listen, if

donald trump doesn't run, all of these folks, like josh hawley, like mike pompeo, maybe even lindsey graham, marco rubio as well, they want to be the next in line and the favorite of donald trump to inherit his base. i think they're wrong in the sense that, if you want to be the republican nominee, or the nominee of any major party, you have to build your own base. it isn't really helpful to be a fanboy of anyone. if you look at donald trump, who was donald trump a fanboy of? nobody, right? maybe putin. that's about it. but this idea that, somehow, they're kind of carrying donald trump's water is going to mean that they are in the front of the line for his base, i think it's just a misunderstanding of his base, why they like donald trump, and just a misunderstanding of presidential politics more broadly. >> all of this happening next week. again, not changing the results of the election. nia malia -- nia-malika he

henders henderson, thank you. coming up, a sprew at the front line, where those were the most exposure to covid are not the first in line for vaccines. a nicu nurse describes the vaccine free for all at her hospital.

chaos, unfair, even an

all-out free for all, not things you want to hear about in terms of the rollout of this life-saving vaccine, yet, medical workers at hospitals all over the country say that is exactly how it's going so far. the most insulting to those on the front lines, seeing people with little to no contact with covid patients getting these vaccines before they do. joining me now, jennifer de vincent, a nicu nurse at mass general brigham hospital. and she is in the delivery room with covid-positive mothers. so, first of all, i know i already gushed to you in commercial break, but thank you for all you do, and especially as a nicu nurse. thank you, thank you, and welcome. jennifer, i know you are frustrated. i read you feel like this vaccine distribution process is a slap in the face. tell me why. >> it is. so, you know, we've been going through covid for a little over nine months now. and the frontline workers have just been down and out this whole time. so, whenever we got news that the vaccine, you know, was finally approved and coming, we were getting pfizer first.

so when we heard that was coming and there was a rollout date, you know, the anticipation and excitement for the frontline workers was unreal. we were so excited. and you know, just to be able to have that extra protection for us, that safety. and then whenever it rolled out, it didn't quite go as we planned, like you said. it was definitely a slap in the face. >> tell me how. tell me how it didn't quite go as planned, because you know, for someone like me, the lay person, doesn't work in a hospital, i would think, okay, there'd be priority lists and a hierarchy, and you, of course, would be getting a shot. and it's my understanding it's really more of an honor system. explain. >> it was. it was more like an honor system. so, the way it should have been is they planned it in waves. so, the wave aqua supposed to be those frontline workers, those with priority to getting vaccine. instead of it being just the wave a that was able to sign up, really, it was a free-for-all, and anyone could sign up. and it was put out on a

wednesday at 3:00, and you had to logon at that exact moment, and if you weren't on at that exact moment, you were not getting the vaccine. now, most of the frontline workers are working. i, in fact, was taking care of a baby, and i was feeding a baby, and i could hear my co-workers talking. and within a matter of minutes, those appointments were gone. so, instead of just the people that actually take care of the covid patients being the ones to be able to sign up for the appointments, it was a free-for-all for everyone. so, you had nurse directors, you had unit coordinators, you had allied health. so, really, the ones that are in the room taking care of the patients were not only the ones that got to sign up. >> so, hang on, am i hearing you correctly? are certain -- i don't want to lay blame or point fingers, but are certain folks in the medical profession maybe fibbing that they are working directly with covid patients in order to get this shot? >> i wouldn't necessarily say

fibbing. i think mass general brigham just wasn't maybe as organized in the rollout as they should have been. i think the organization and planning and execution of it just wasn't prepared. i think that there was certain criteria that you have to go on and attest to, and i don't think that criteria was as strict as it should have been. so, instead of saying, do you work in the in-patient setting, meaning, do you care for patients, it was more just kind of a free-for-all where anyone could go on and sign up for an appointment. >> i got you. i got you loud and clear. i was reading the medical director of emergency preparedness at your hospital which says the honor code is necessary for an organization with a staff of more than 80,000. that's their perspective. like, imagine being on their end and trying to make sure they're giving you all these doses of this vaccine. let me -- the obvious question is, have you finally been able to get the shot? >> i did. i actually got the shot on saturday. >> great. great. and how are you? are you good? side effects, anything? >> it was a doozy. i definitely had some good side effects for a couple of days.

i had the body aches, the low-grade fever, the joint pain. but it was just a couple of days, and it was gone. definitely better than weeks or months of covid. >> good, good, good. my last question is just in terms of other, you know, hospital officials watching you, other medical professionals. like, what would you advice be, having gone through this, when the system doesn't really work so well? what would you say to those hospitals in terms of rolling out this vaccine, as more and more will be green-lit? >> really, at the federal level, at the state level, and at the level of the hospital, mass general brigham, they really just need to prioritize their frontline workers first. they need to make sure all of those for the brigham in wave "a," all of those get vaccinated. they just opened up yesterday into wave "b." really, they just need to prioritize keeping their health workers safe so we can take care of our patients. >> thank you for taking care of us. thank you for speaking up. jennifer de vincent. >> thank you so much. >> thank you.

thank you. coming up next here on cnn, families all across the country are bracing for a possible lapse in unemployment benefits. what this means for getting food on the table and keeping a roof over your head. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ for every trip you've been dreaming of, expedia has millions of flexible booking options. because the best trip is wherever we go together. ♪

we're portuguese? i thought we were hungarian. can you tell me that story again? behind every question is a story waiting to be discovered. this holiday, start the journey with a dna kit from ancestry. president trump's continued fight with congress is having real consequences for americans across this country. the president is fighting for

$2,000 checks, repealing liability protections for internet companies, and investigating voter fraud. and he delayed signing the government funding bill, which includes coronavirus relief, until sunday. now, the labor department says individuals should still receive benefits this week, despite the president's last-minute signing, but state agencies will need to reprogram computers so that millions of americans could still actually miss those payments, though they will receive them retroactively. cnn's vanessa yurkevich is live for us this afternoon. i know you've been spending so much time talking to families. what are you hearing from folks about how much they need this money? >> reporter: well, brooke, missing just one week of unemployment is absolutely devastating for families who really rely on this money in order to put food on the table. unemployment really doesn't cover all the bills and rent and food, and many americans have kpla completely depleted their savings accounts and destroyed their credit. so we visited with one family in

brooklyn who talked to us about how they're planning to survive. fariha hawk and her husband amir are raising a family of six on less than $400 a week in unemployment. next week, they could go without that money. >> it's going to hit rock bottom, because right now we were able to eat, you know. forget the rent. >> that money that was supposed to arrive this week was just to feed your family. >> just to feed the family. >> reporter: pandemic unemployment programs for millions lapsed on december 26th, a day before a new federal aid package was signed. that delay means most americans will have to wait until next year for states to issue their checks. >> like, i'm very grateful that money will be coming in, but sometimes it takes so long for the money to actually kick in. >> fariha and amir are gig workers. she drove a school carpool, he an uber. the loss of income in march put the family onto a growing pile of bills. >> i mean, if i told you all the bills is up to date, no, they

can't be. it's just impossible. >> nearly 12 million renters will owe more than $5,800 in back rent by january. fariha and amir owe nearly that much, and they're $8,000 in credit card debt. >> you have to take the letters and you have to put it on the flowers. >> reporter: their small apartment is a virtual classroom, and the four kids eat all meals at home. that's 16 a day. >> you can do it. come on, mommy's got to go make breakfast, too. i get so emotional because i'm overwhelmed. and i'm like, i don't know how to live anymore. sometimes it's so hard. >> reporter: a recent survey shows 27 million americans say they don't have enough to eat. this family relies on food stamps and the food pantry at the brooklyn community service group copo. it's familiar for fariha. >> you're going to get raspberries and squash, and i got these special cucumbers. >> reporter: she used to work here, handing out the food. >> i was there helping people receive benefits. and now i'm on the other end, and i'm asking for benefits.

>> reporter: and the need for many americans is only getting greater. >> they're running out of their checks. that's why they're coming more in hardship because they're not sure how they're going to make ends meet. >> reporter: the new stimulus bill adds an extra $300 a week in unemployment through mid-march, a much-needed boost to families like this one. >> before you see the money, it's gone already. i already know where i'm going to spend all that money. and it's hard to get back to that place where everything will be okay. >> reporter: one of the things that fariha said would have made her feel a little more okay during this time is if congress increased the stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000. a measure did pass in the house, but the senate will likely not vote on anything until way into next year. fariha said for her family, those stimulus checks would have helped pay back all of the rent she owes, including making a dent in all of that credit card

debt. but she's not hopeful she'll see that money any time soon. until then, brooke, she's just trying to get by as she watches these bills pile up. brooke? >> so glad you shared her story. we need to keep hearing stories like that. and i'm especially glad you went to copo there in brooklyn. we had mohammed on the show a couple weeks ago and i have been talking about that guy and all of the mouths he is helping feed. he is truly extraordinary, copo in brooklyn. vanessa, thank you very much. speaking of food insecurity, millions of americans are facing precisely that in food banks across the country are doing everything they can to help. today, one food bank in texas is seeing its 67th mass distribution since the pandemic began, and cnn's camilla bernal is live from boston. and camilla, it's stunning to me how many thousand more people, because of this pandemic, you know, are needing a little bit of help. the stigma that comes along from that first time, you know, asking for that. tell me some stories of the

people you're talking to. >> reporter: well, look, brooke, the majority of the people that i spoke to said that they did not come to these types of events before the pandemic. this has been exasperated by the pandemic. and you're seeing it with the line in front of me. there are just thousands of people, families, who are benefiting from this. and i want to show you right here, this is where they're handing out that food. they get two boxes, as you're seeing there. they're giving them milk. they're giving them rice, beans, canned goods and fresh food as well. feeding america estimates that one in four children, one in five adults, is facing hunger in this area. so it is just a dramatic number. i spoke to a woman, jill fowler, who says she came here because she's with her daughter and grandchild, and they're in desperate need of food. she says she's waiting for that $600 stimulus check and even said that she did not need the $2,000, because there is so much need that anything she can get will help. take a listen.

>> i'm looking for that. i am so looking for that. that's -- i mean, there's no saving that check. that's going right back into the economy again. >> reporter: for? >> since my daughter lives with me, we're going to have to sit and make decisions on exactly what we need to put it towards, because even though it's 600 bucks, which is -- i mean, right now, that's wonderful. >> reporter: and brooke, they will close the doors here in about ten minutes, but that line is still very long. they say they will serve everyone that gets here, but no one else will be allowed in after noon local time. brooke? >> thank goodness for all these food banks and gracious volunteers helping people out who need it. thank you. coming up next, more on the georgia senate runoffs, where president trump and president-elect biden and former president obama are all entering the fray in the final week of campaigning. n ever, that's why the new myww+ is our most holistic weight loss program ever.

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wake up on the right side of the bed this year it's moving day. and are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? delegating? 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. today, president-elect biden announced kathleen hicks as his nominee for deputy defense secretary. it's another historic pick for team biden, as she would be the first woman in that position at the pentagon. cnn's mj lee is live in delaware. mj, tell me a little bit more about her and also where things stand with regard to defense secretary nominee. >> reporter: yeah, brooke, kathleen hicks is a former pentagon official who is currently a senior member of the biden transition. biden just announcing that she is his pick to be the deputy defense secretary. you know, this is a transition team that has talked a lot about

their barrier-breaking nominations and appointments, and she would be, as you said, the first woman to serve in this role, if she is confirmed. and you asked about the status of biden's defense secretary nominee. this is lloyd austin. my colleague on the hill, lauren fox, and i have been doing some reporting on all of this. essentially, the biggest issue and the hang-up right now is this waiver. and for those who have not been following this closely, this is a waiver that he would need to get from congress to bypass a law that essentially says there needs to be at least a seven-year time span between the time that he served in the military and when he can lead the pentagon, and there are just concerns on the hill right now among both democrats and republicans who feel like, are we really ready to issue another waiver? because remember, it was just a few years ago that james mattis, who was donald trump's pick to be defense secretary, he needed

to receive this waiver as well. so there are concerns about setting another precedent. so we'll see where this goes. but i will quickly note, the biden transition is insisting they are not concerned about this, he will be confirmed, he will get that waiver, brooke. >> and what about the prediction you've been reporting on between dod and the biden transition? what's that about? >> reporter: there really is a disconnect that we're seeing between what the dod says is happening and what the biden transition team is saying is going on. we heard biden, himself, saying earlier this week that there has been obstruction, particularly from the dod, during this transition process. for example, the dod is essentially saying, we've had lots of transition meetings, we have been extremely transparent in giving the team all the information that they need. but when we have talked to sources familiar and people close to the transition -- myself and my colleagues -- what they're saying is there actually hasn't been a formal transition meeting between the dod and the agency review teams as of monday, since december 18th. we are not getting all of the

information that they need. and obviously, the concern here is that there could be real national security implications if they are just not getting the cooperation and the information that they should be right now, brooke. >> mj, thank you so much for all of the reporting and the update there on the biden transition. meanwhile, president-elect biden and vice president-elect harris will campaign in georgia ahead of tuesday's critical senate runoff races, but the pressure is also mounting for the republican incumbent in these races, who are now, thanks to the president, really in a precarious position over whether to support the defense spending bill. the house voted monday to override president trump's veto of this bill, and now, georgia's republican senators kelly loeffler and david perdue really risk alienating the president and themselves if they vote in favor of it. cnn's ryan nobles is in atlanta. and what are these republican incumbents saying about this publicly? >> reporter: nothing, frankly, brooke. they have not weighed in at all

on whether or not they're going to vote to override the national defense authorization act. it was just yesterday that david perdue and kelly loeffler said that they do support the idea of increasing those stimulus checks to $2,000 after they voted for and advocated for the bill that had those payments only at $600. but both of these issues show kind of the difficult position that president trump's unpredictable behavior has put these republican candidates in. you know, they want to run as closely as they can to president trump because he remains very popular among republican voters here, but it's very difficult when the president often contradicts him. so, that just puts them in a very difficult position time after time. and then when you add into that that the president has also worked on a rapid clip to try and undermine the reliability of the electoral system here in georgia, that also makes it very difficult. keep in mind, brooke, that this morning, president trump suggested that the republican governor of georgia should resign his office because of the way he administered this

election. neither david perdue or kelly loeffler have weighed in on that as well. so, this has just made this process very difficult for republicans. they need every single trump supporter to come out and vote, and it's hard to do it when the president continues to undermine that process. brooke? >> it's incredible how it's impacting the president and the debate, you know, with mcconnell and the republicans over also the $2,000 checks. all eyes right where you are on georgia. ryan nobles, thank you so much. still ahead here on cnn, we are learning more about the man behind the bombing christmas day in nashville. were there missed warning signs? we will hear from his girlfriend's attorney. when it comes to autism,

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now to the nashville christmas day explosion. cnn has learned police were warned about this nashville bomber back in august of 2019. authorities say that is when this woman claiming to be anthony warner's girlfriend told police that he was making bombs in his rv. so, let's go to nashville to our correspondent there, martin savidge. and how exactly were police tipped off last year, martin? >> reporter: well, they were called to the home because there were fears that this woman, who claims to be the girlfriend, was suicidal. when they got on the scene and began talking to this woman, she said that she was also the girlfriend of anthony warner. and then relayed that he was making bombs, she claimed, in the rv behind her home. also present at that conversation with law enforcement -- this all comes from the police report -- was the attorney who represents both the woman and anthony warner. and that attorney says, you know

what, he has said a lot about bombs and about the military, he needs to be investigated. this is that same attorney recalling the conversation after the events of christmas day. listen. >> and she was so convincing that morning and so distraught that i decided in her front yard in the middle of all us police officers, on the spot, that even though it was a former client of mine, that somebody needed to go check him out right then. if somebody had checked tony out and gotten him the help that he needed, then this would have never have happened. >> wow. >> reporter: now, police did go to warner's home, but he didn't respond, and they did see the rv, but they didn't have a search warrant. essentially, there was no further investigation. there were inquiries made on a federal level, but the feds say they knew nothing about anthony warner. now everybody wants to know about anthony warner. in the aftermath of what happened. and many believe a ball was dropped. brooke? >> awful. awful, all the way around,

thinking about nashville here. martin savidge, thank you for the update. we continue on. you are watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you so much for being with me. the president gets a senate accomplice to the effort to subvert the election here. missouri republican senator josh hawley says that he will object next week when congress meets to certify the electoral college. more on that in a second. first, a frightening discovery in colorado and new, awful, record-setting pandemic numbers after a holiday lull. a colorado man tested positive for a new and more infectious variant of the coronavirus that has already prompted lockdowns all across england. a more easily transmitted version of the virus circulating in the community adds giant concern to an already ongoing public health disaster. 201,555 ne