hello, everyone, i'm jim sciutto. welcome to a special edition of "newsroom." thanks for joining me. today the world celebrates a new year's eve like never before bringing in 2021, thankfully you might say, under the shadow though of the coronavirus, with scaled down celebrations and limited gatherings. and in the final days of what has been a trying year at times, the nation is still setting alarming new pandemic records almost every day. for a second day in a row, the

nation reported a record number of covid deaths and hospitalizations on wednesday. but as this nation suffers, president trump seems to be paying little attention. instead, he remains locked in on his election loss, still refuting the facts, the results, pushing base less lies, and they are lies, about election fraud that have already been proven false. president trump is even leaving his florida vacation early, departing before his annual new year's party at mar-a-lago where guests have already started arriving. he's returning to d.c. early not to address the pandemic, the slow rollout of the vaccine, not to address increasing tensions with iran but to be back well ahead of january 6th, the day that congress will certify joe biden's win despite a republican plan to challenge joe biden's victory and disrupt a process.

boris sanchez is in palm beach. what more can you tell us about the president's plan to leave early? there's a lot on his plate as president but that doesn't seem to be his focus. >> reporter: jim we haven't gotten a clear response from the white house as to why the president is leaving west palm beach early. he was expected to attend a gala later tonight at his mar-a-lago estate with hundreds of people in attendance, the president heading back to washington. we had gotten reporting that indicated the president was angry about renovations at the mar-a-lago club, what is expected to be his post white house home. it's unclear that's why he is leaving. in the meantime if you look at his twitter feed, he is fixated on this idea of overturning the 2020 election when congress servi certifies the results of the electoral college on january 6th and the president got news he was hoping for when senator josh hawley of missouri announced he

would object during that certification process. the president, of course, campaigning republicans to go that route even though senate majority leader mitch mcconnell had privately been advising lawmakers to avoid the scenario entirely because it could spell disaster for the republican party moving forward. keep in mind with this vote held on january 6th, republicans are ultimately going to have to go on the record as to whether they are going to stand with the facts and democracy and the fact that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud or side with the president's fantasies about election rigging and then have to answer for that later on down the road, jim. >> that phrase is remarkable. it's an effort to overturn election. we can say it repeatedly, it's a fact, a remarkable one. boris sanchez, thanks so much. the republican senator behind the planned disruption, josh hawley, is making clear that he is sticking with his intentions to challenge the election results. lauren fox is on capitol hill.

lauren, senator hawley defending this position. it defies the gop majority leader, the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, he did not want republican senators to do this. >> reporter: that's right. you can expect that josh hawley is hardly the most popular lawmaker on capitol hill right now when it comes to his connection with his colleagues in the republican conference. look, hawley is defending his decision. he is telling us that essentially he told leadership this is what he was going to do, he gave them a heads up, but hasn't said how many states he plans to object to. this could go on for hours, there could be theatrics on the house and senate in just a few days. this is what he said. >> this is my opportunity to stand up and say something, stand up and point out there were irregularities, there was fraud, nobody disputes that. there needs to be change. our election laws need to be

changed. we need election integrity measures obviously and yet congress has done nothing and they won't do anything unless somebody stands up and says something. >> reporter: jim something to keep an eye on in the next couple of days, you have 21 republican seats that lawmakers have to defend going into the 2022 election. so that's going to be where all eyes are. what are those senators going to do? are they going to be willing to cross president trump, even though he's not at the top of the ticket, he'll still have an influence in their electoral futures. we should note josh hawley lied there, it has failed in court in front of trump appointed justices, in the justice department run by bill barr, the supreme court has failed to take it up. so again, he was lying. let's talk about outside of theatrics what is happening in terms of legislation. because one the senate is going to override the president's veto

of the defense authorization act, but also this effort for stimulus checks that the president supports as well, the $2,000 stimulus checks that in effect dead on arrival. >> that's right. we have a couple days left in the 116th congress, i don't expect the checks are going to come up for a straight up or down vote. mcconnell said as much. the only thing they could put on the floor is the poison pill bill that includes the checks but also two measures that the democrats don't support. all they can do is override the president's veto on the defense bill, something with bipartisan support for 60 years and something mcconnell wants to make sure is completed by the next congress. that's it. no $2,000 checks coming any time soon. >> lauren fox, thank you. a, quote, dangerous ploy

that is what ben sasse is calling fellow republicans' actions to overturn the election. there's the phrase again, overturn it. sass alleged that his colleagues have claims that the election was fraudulent not because they beli believe it. he said i haven't heard a single republican allege the election results were fraudulent, not one. instead i hear them talk about the worries about how they look to president trump's most ardent supporters. i want to bring in charlie dent, cnn political commentator, he himself a former republican congressman from pennsylvania. charlie, i don't think we can highlight often enough. this is an effort by this president applying pressure to overturn the election. after his allegations of widespread fraud have been rejected across the board. not by democrats, although

they're included but by trump appointed judges, by republican officials by the supreme court with a 6-3 majority and three justices appointed by this president. how significant is this? how damaging is it? >> jim, this is very damaging. i would recommend to my former republican colleagues in the house and the senate to follow the lead of adam kinsinger who has called this out, this nonsense. the president's legal challenges have been defeated at every turn. his lawyers have been beated like rented mules. that's how bad this is but this is an assault on democracy itself. they all know better. what's happening now with these challenges in the house and now senator hawley really are simply plays to an audience of one, president trump, perhaps senator hawley is thinking about 2024 gop primary politics for president. that could be it. but this is really -- but this

is really certainly terrible for the institution. i went through this jim back in 2005. my first few days in the u.s. house when stephanie tubs jones and barbara boxer helped her with the challenge to george bush's election over the ohio count that went nowhere, slowed everything down, but it was annoying and seen as a frivolous action at the time. >> to your point, though, that was different. i'm not defending it. i'm saying that was about one state, ohio. john kerry had conceded his election loss the night after the election, as most presidents do. when they did that, they explicitly said they were not trying to overturn the election. this is a different animal because the president continues to claim that this was a fraudulent election, which is bought, sadly, by the majority of republicans, according to a lot of public polling here. tell us about that difference and what it means for confidence

in our electoral process. >> yeah, you're right, jim, it is different than john kerry had conceded, no question about that. what's different this time, though, what republican voters need to hear. they need to hear an alternative narrative. i mentioned, adam kinsinger but there is paul mitchell, i can go down a long list of folks who have spoken up. we need 100 members of the house and a significant number of republican senators to stand up and simply state the truth. the base can be moved. all these lies and these statements about the election being rigged. it's all such nonsense we know it but it's disruptive. we need to hear the alternative narrati narrative. so i encourage them to speak up. >> the sad fact is, it's a product of the bubbles that we occupy today, right? because many are not hearing an alternative narrative.

they're fed this disinformation, it is disinformation because it is deliberate disinformation. and they're not being challenged. so i wonder do you see the president's hold on the party fading at all as the time passes, as he leaves office. as i noted with lauren fox ahead of you, in terms of legislation, congress is going to override the president's veto on the defense and authorization act, that is real legislation. congress is not going to give the president what he wants on this electoral fraud commission and even the $2,000 stimulus checks, right, as mcconnell bundles that together. do you see the parties -- his grip on the party fading over time or is it rock solid? >> well, i hope that his grip on the party fades over the time -- over time. his relevance is diminishing by the day. and i think part of all these theatrics are really to make him -- he's trying to make himself relevant and he's trying

to certainly bring attention toward himself. there is going to be a great debate in the party whether trumpism survives trump. i believe the president is going to use his platform, he's raised a few hundred million dollars there's talk of a digital tv platform so he can try to remain relevant. but i think this conduct is hurting him. as republicans, you know, i have argued, jim, repeatedly that the party needs to move away from trumpism. all this nativism, isolation, populi populism, unilateralism. this is not good for the long term prospects of the party and it has to be a more socially tolerant and inclusive party. get away from the crony capitol hill -- capitalism and address serious issues like climate change and immigration that may be outside the comfort zone of many republicans but to come up

with real policy solutions complaining about the squad excites the base but i think republicans have to become more serious about the issues and push trump behind. >> we'll be watching after january 20th, former republican congressman charlie dent. thanks for coming on. we wish you and your family the best for the holidays. >> thanks. coming up again the u.s. breaks its records for deaths and hospitalizations. we'll be in los angeles where they're just buckling under the strain of so many patients. plus should the u.s. focus on giving the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine to as many people as possible, even if it delays the second one. i'll speak to the head of medicaid and medicare under president obama about that question next.

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it is, of course, the eve of the new year and health experts are urging people not to gather as covid related deaths here in the u.s. just reached another record high, more than 3,700 yesterday alone and a grim new cdc projection says more than 80,000 americans could die of the virus just over the next several weeks. this all comes as two states have founder the highly infectious new covid-19 variant first identified in the uk. paul joins us from los angeles. paul, this new strain confirmed in california, a 30-year-old san

diego man. do they know how far and wide this has now spread there? >> reporter: so far it's just him. and the big question was, jim, did he travel? the answer to that, no. when did his symptoms show up? that was two days after christmas. so california keeping a close watch on this concerned with the variant as is the rest of the nation. the united states sees its deadliest day since the pandemic began. more than 3,700 americans were reported dead on wednesday from the coronavirus. and more than 125,000 americans are currently hospitalized. the highest since the start of the pandemic. the cdc now projects as many as 424,000 americans will die from the virus by january 23rd. in california, the state identified its first case of the coronavirus variant after colorado reported one confirmed case and one suspected case on tuesday.

the case involves a 30-year-old man in san diego who had no recent travel history and had very few social interactions in the days before becoming symptomatic. >> we believe this is not an isolated case in san diego county and there are probably other strains, other cases of this same strain in san diego county. >> reporter: dr. anthony fauci is not surprised that this variant has been found in the united states. and believes the vaccine will likely protect against this new strain. >> the transmissability of this is more sufficient than the transmissability of the standard virus. >> reporter: this comes as california is still struggling to get the pandemic under control. in l.a. county one person is dying every ten minutes from coronavirus. the county just surpassed 10,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. hospitals are still overwhelmed in the state and icu capacity is at 0% in much of the state.

meanwhile, some of the nation's top health officials are now admitting the pace of the vaccine rollout is lagging behind expectations. >> we agree the number is lower than what we hoped for. we know it should be better. >> reporter: the united states has distributed 12.4 million doses and administered 2.7 vaccines only. the administration had promised 20 million vaccinations by the end of the year. >> it's overpromising in the first place. it's also not having a national strategy but instead throwing up our hands and basically saying it's there, the federal government has done their job. >> reporter: in florida this is what demand for the vaccine looks like. senior citizens lining up for hours, many arriving in the middle of the night and sitting in lawn chairs. florida's first come, first serve policy for elderly residents leading to a scramble for a limited number of doses.

and on the ground here in california, when you talk to doctors and nurses, they are exhausted, they are frustrated and they want people this new year's eve to stay indoors, not commingle with other families and make sure they protect everyone in the state which is being ravaged by the virus, jim. >> let's hope folks listen. paul, thanks very much. let's discuss with former acting administration of the centers for medicare and medicaid services. thanks for taking time today. >> thanks, jim, good to be here. >> let's talk about the new variant. it's confirmed in california and colorado but you speak to dr. fauci and others and they say, listen, it's likely broadly across the u.s. right now. a new uk study today says not only more transmissible is the variant but also more -- youth are more susceptible, people under 20 are more susceptible than prior iterations of this, how concerning is that in your view? >> it should be concerning to

us. the actions we have to take are no different than the actions we had to take before this stran. we just had not been taking them individually. as a country it's very clear we need to be doing a lot more sequencing, a lot more testing. the entire spring and fall where president trump said, hey, we're testing too much, these are consequences of what happens when you tell scientists, don't test so much. don't look. don't see where it is. don't see what sequence it is. we know this is all over our country, we just don't know where. >> can we turn to do that, though? we're nine months into this, right. we blew it on testing. and this is part of a consequence of it. it's not just to detect cases but to sequence so we know when there are new variants and how quickly they turn up, et cetera. i wonder if we don't have the capacity in planning because it seems a similar pattern is

playing out with the distribution of vaccines. dump it on the states and leave it up to them. >> that's the strategy from the beginning, try to make sure that the federal government owned no responsibility. you know, i get this increasing sense, jim, that for the biden/harris administration, this is going to be like moving into a house that they thought was -- they knew was in disrepair but the last few months the people living there decided to absolutely abandon all hope, all maintenance, let the grass grow, the trash pile up, and they're just making it more and more difficult because of their negligence. so this can be turned around but the biden/harris team is going to be starting from a deeper hole than i think anyone thought. >> i want to talk to -- mention how dr. fauci, what his reaction was to his own plan now since there's a shortage in effect -- not a shortage of doses but the

doses aren't getting out there quickly enough. this idea of using one dose now for more people and wait until you produce enough of the second dose. just get some immunity out there in effect for as many people as possible and hope you ramp up production going forward. have a listen to fauci and then i want to get your reaction. >> that's under consideration. i think if done properly, you can do a single dose, reserve doses for the second dose and still get the job done. but there's a lot of discussion about whether or not you want to spread out the initial vaccination by getting more people vaccinated on the first round. >> given how far behind we are at vaccinating, meeting this administration's own goals, a fraction of their goals by the end of the month which is 12.5 hours away, do you agree with dr. fauci? >> i do think this needs to be strongly considered, jim. the situation with the latest

drug to be approved in the united kingdom, the drug developed by oxford and distributed by astrazeneca is they are allowing people to take one dose and continue on. and what they're learning, and they don't have very good studies from this, what they learned is the longer the time between the boost actually enhances the impew anizatimuniz of that particular vaccine. so it may be not only is it a better way to get more people some immunity but it may, in fact, enhance people's immunity. this is what one would hope the trump administration would be ahead of the curve. we have the best scientists in the world, we say it all the time, yet other countries are figuring this out before us. i'm glad dr. fauci raised this, because it is something that needs to be forced into the dialogue. the other thing that's, quite

frankly, apaling, is most states tell me we have 25-year-old dental students getting vaccinated while we have people serious risk of vaccination that are not getting vaccinated. states, again to your point that states have been given the freedom to do what they want. in many cases the vaccinations are not going to the right people and the hospitalizations continue to climb. >> goodness. let's hope it gets turned around soon. the country needs it. andy, thanks so much. >> thank you. still ahead this hour. president trump remains fix sat on getting republicans to not only challenge the electoral but overturn the election. senator bob casey of pennsylvania calls trump's strategy a cheap political move. he's going to join me next. with a lifetime warranty. go from old to new. from worn to wow.

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there are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. get a $50 prepaid card when you switch. nationwide 5g is now included. switch and save hundreds. xfinity mobile. president trump is headed back to washington this hour, cutting his florida trip short. to focus on the pandemic? the slow vaccine rollout? the expanding russia hack? no. to focus once again on his attempt to overturn the election based on baseless claims about widespread election fraud. as lawmakers appear headed to a debate on electoral votes and are still fighting over increasing stimulus checks for americans, the labor department

reported today another 787,000 americans filed for first time jobless benefits during the christmas holiday week. another record compared to well, anything you saw during the financial crisis of 2008. joining me now democratic senator bob casey of pennsylvania. thanks for being here this morning. >> good morning, jim. >> the president is looking for a handful of representatives to join in this protest. he specifically cited, pennsylvania, your state not following election laws thereby contradicting not only you but your republican colleague, pat toomey and the pennsylvania supreme court. how do you respond to a missouri senator claiming pennsylvania got it wrong. >> jim, first and foremost it's

a lot of bs. i won't fill in the blanks. it's the big lie. the lie the president has been perpetuated for months now -- at least weeks now and months preparing for the big lie. it's hard to comprehend a united states senator attaching their name to that lie. i call it a cheap political move but as you said it's a direct attack on pennsylvania, our voters, courts, all those election officials. by the way, election if officials in counties that donald trump won and he won a lot of counties in a state like ours even though joe biden won the state overall. we don't need any united states senator or member of congress from another state telling us what to do. we know how to run elections. we do it well, we do it fairly and in accordance with the law. it's a big lie. >> senator ben sasse, another republican from nebraska, he's called it dangerous like you. i'm quoting from a facebook post he put up last night he said

when we talk in private -- talking about speaking to his republican colleagues -- i haven't heard a single republican allege the election results were fraudulent, not juan. he goes on to say it's basically fear of the base here. do you hear similar things from your republican colleagues? >> i think fear drives it, no question. i think there's some in congress on the republican side it's more than fear. they seem to have -- it's an ideology of this guy it's disturbing. at least on the republican side in the senate, i think it's fear. i hope that no one else would join senator hawley in this big fraud. but there's a lot of fear. and that's -- there's no question about it. they have to choose here. it's real simple, two choices, you choose democracy and the constitution or the big lie and trump. it's as simple as that. i think ben sasse said it well. >> you mentioned others joining.

the fact is that others have at least left that possibility open, tommy tubberville, tom cotton, rand paul, do you expect to see others join? regardless you have enough, you just need one senator. what does january 6th look like then? >> i hope not. what happens if he goes through it, he objects it goes to the senate and a debate and vote on that one challenge. it's likely to go state by state. so maybe he'd start with pennsylvania. but i hope that he's the only one, because this is -- this is a -- this is going to be a mark on the record of that individual for the rest of their life. and especially someone in this case, senator hawley, who is a lawyer, who is the attorney general of his home state. it's hard to comprehend that he wants to attach his name to one of the biggest lies in american history. >> let me ask you this finally

because there's a theatrical element to this. it's not going to work. it does damage. it feeds the idea -- in fact, most republicans don't believe the election was free and fair. in terms of legislation, congress is defying the president. they're about to override the veto on the ndaa, the pentagon funding bill, basically, they're defying the president on not only his desire for $2,000 stimulus checks which i know you support but also an electoral fraud commission and other things he has sought. does that give you a sense his hold over the party is actually fad fading when it comes to the stuff that really matters? >> we'll see. when you think about what's happened in the last couple of weeks and even up until today, whether it's the big lie about the election, whether it's vetoing the first president in what 60 years to veto a defense bill, all of the -- all of the chaos, even the $2,000, he

wasn't pushing for that. he wasn't negotiating for that or advocating for that, he jumped in at the last minute and wasn't able to persuade the leader of his party in the senate, who's blocking the $2,000. all of this, though, was both enabled by republicans, because they've been jen flekting to him all these years and they created this problem that we're seeing play out now. we'll see if they're going to choose the country over trump. we'll see. >> we'll be watching. senator bob casey thanks so much. happy new year to you and your family. >> thanks, jim. same to you. a major show of force. the u.s. has flown nuclear capable b-52 bombers to the middle east amid rising tensions to iran but it's taken steps to de-escalate how iran is responding to what it all means. next. get ready to pile on the comfort

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iran's foreign minister is accusing the u.s. of making up a reason to go to war. tweeting this morning, trump and cohorts waste billions to fly b-52s to our region. intelligence from iraq indicate plot to fabricate pretext for war. he's responding apparently to the u.s. dispatching bombers to the area yesterday along with the pentagon warning there will be consequences for attacks on

u.s. allies in the region. it's cnn's reporting that senior pentagon officials are divided over exactly how real the threat is. cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr is with us. with intelligence there's always questions, debates. tell us the meaning of this flyover and what else you're hearing. >> you're right. the flyover is a show of force, a show of deterrence against iran to try to convince them not to take any attack against u.s. troops across the way in iraq and the carrier has been sent home as an advertised deescalatory move by the department of defense. but the intelligence right now, according to officials we're talking to, shows that iran has been planning, and has completed planning, essentially, to use its forces inside iraq to attack u.s. troops. is the intelligence perfect?

absolutely not. do they know if iran would carry out an attack? they don't know. you never know until it happens. so there's lots of interpretation about the intelligence. what worries some military officials the most they say is that it's essentially zero time between making the decision to attack and then launching an attack. that much planning, that much weaponry, that much effort is already in place. so a lot of worry right now and not a clear way ahead. the pentagon obviously keeping close watch. >> thanks very much. coming up this hour, the u.s. hits another devastating milestone as 2020 comes to a close. why haven't more people been vaccinated? why has the administration reached only a fraction of its goals by today, and will officials change their strategy?

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(kids laughing) (dog barking) ♪ sanctuary music it's the final days of the wish list sales event sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. this may surprise you about the nation's 39th president if not for his strong ties to rock music and the artists who created it, jimmy carter, may never have won the white house. the cnn film "jimmy carter, rock

& roll president" looks at his close connection with musicians and music of all styles. listen to this preview. >> willie nelson wrote his autobiography he confessed he smoked pot in the white house one night when he was spending the night with me, and he says that his companion, that shared the pot with him, was one of the servers in the white house. that is not exactly true. it was one of my sons which he didn't want to categorize as a pot smoker like him. there was people that didn't like me involvement deeply involved with willie nelson and other disrepute ababldisreputab. the response from the follower of those musicians was much more influential than a few people who thought being associated with rock 'n' roll and radical

people was inappropriate for a president. >> joining us now is julian salazar. ily feel like he was photo shopped into them, hanging out with the almond brothers, willie nelson, jimmy buffett, willie nelson smoking pot in the white house with his son. is this the jimmy carter we didn't know about? >> we forget in 1976, carter was an anti-establishment democrat. he comes in the aftermath of vietnam and watergate, and he promises to make the presidency more human and more responsive and rock 'n' rollers love that and the almond brothers played concerts to raise money and we forget what carter was and promise was when he started. >> you talk about them playing political events for him. some who say he might not have won that election without support. is that true? is that an overstatement?

>> there was much more to it. he was the right man at the right time and message of being able to trust him mattered to americans disillusioned with american pom ticks and with presidential power, but rock 'n' roll was part of the mix, it helped him raise money, it helped shape his persona, and it even helped them win some primaries. >> in this documentary and stories how carter viewed music as a great unifier. strikes me like so many things it's the opposite. you have the campaign songs that of all about the team, the tribe. trump campaign using songs artists didn't want them to use, legal challenges, et cetera. has music lost that role, right, as our politics have become more divisi divisive? >> it's like everything else in american society. it's currently defined by fault lines, whether you're talking about music or whether you're talking about the parties, and

we're going back to a period where carter could see commonality in someone like willie nelson or singer like jimmy buffett or aretha franklin where today you're right. even our music, even our popular culture has become polarized. >> well, goodness, maybe after 12 hours when 2020 leaves we'll find a better way in the new year. julian zelazer thanks so much. appreciate having you on on this. >> thanks for having me. tune in to the all new cnn film "jimmy carter, rock 'n' roll president" a title you wouldn't expect, premieres sunday 9:00 p.m. only on cnn. as the clock ticks down here in the u.s., countries around the world are already ringing in the new year. i'm jealous. this is what it looks like in hong kong, celebrations there taking place just a short time ago. they know how to do fireworks there. australia, fireworks light up the sky over sydney harbor.

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if ever there was a year to celebrate ending it might be this one. here is one more reminder why. today's celebrations in times square one more normally massive event transformed by the pandemic. no packed crowds of partying people there this year. police are saying stay away. health officials warning everyone to avoid large gatherings and we're getting day-by-day reminders of why that is. this new year's eve more than 340,000 people here for last year's countdown are gone, lost, a second day in a row of record deaths, approaching 4,000 dead in a single day and a new cdc estimate says another 80,000 americans who will be here for the countdown tonight will die before the end of next month. this is happening as the white house coronavirus task force admits that the vaccine rollout in this country is lagging far beyond this administration's own goals, even as the more contagious variant of the virus