it is thursday, december 24, 2020. this is the cbs morning news. presidential pardons. president trump bails out more allies. plus more on the stimulus check. >> the winter threat as we head into the holidays. >> and lockdown expanding. a new covid strain is parl liesing the uk. tougher restrictions that start tonight. good morning from cbs news headquarters in new york. i'm diane king hall in for anne-marie green. we begin with a new round of pardons from president trump.

more than two dozen including some close allies including paul manafort, roroger stone and the father of jared kushner, charles kushner. mr. trump arrived in florida last night where he's spending christmas. his departure from washington, d.c. comes as the covid relief bill remains in jeopardy. debra alfarone is live in washington. what is happening today with the stimulus package? >> the president wanted to have $2,000 stimulus checks instead of the $600 ones. this set up an early christmas gift for democrats. they are going to set up new legislation aimed at those $2,000 checks but that puts republicans between a rock and a hard place. >> president trump pardoned some two dozen people. including some long-time political supporters. >> roger stone was treated unfairly.

>> convicted of lying to congress and tampering stemming to the russia investigation. >> my trial was a soviet style show trial. >> former campaign manager paul manafort was convicted by special crimes brought by muller. also receiving a pardon, charles kushner, the father of his son in-law. former new jersey governor chris christie was the u.s. attorney that prosecuted him. >> the guy hires a prostitute to seduce his brother in-law and videotapes it and sends that to his sister to keep her from testifying before a grand jury. president trump vetoed the national defense bill yesterday and is threatening to do the same to the coronavirus relief bill. >> people are hurting right now. >> house democrats will

introduce an amendment to increase the amount of the bill's $600 stimulus check after the president released this message. >> increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000. leaving money on the table while congress goes home for christmas. >> quite a long shot. if it doesn't get passed, it could be that the president does not sign this. it could get kicked down the road and then congress would have to look at this again next year. >> kicking the can down the road. hopefully not. thank you. as americans get set to celebrate christmas, more than 90 million people are in the path of a massive storm that could spawn tornadoes in the east. already wreaking havoc in north dakota yesterday belting parts

of the state with snow and gusty winds. minneapolis is under a blizzard warning this morning. the storm triggered hazardous road conditions. and could dump up to a foot of snow in some places. some people in the state don't seem to mind. >> oh, my gosh, the roads are slippery. >> mother nature knew we needed to have a white christmas. >> what the heck, it is weather. it is a change. >> classic minnesota. >> this is wonderful. >> parts of virginia and north carolina could be hit with tornadoes today. new york city is bracing for gusty winds and rain expected to last to friday. >> for a lot of people, looking >> for a lot of people, the holidays look different this year. more than 1 million people have received the first shots. the government has reached an agreement with pfizer for 100

million more doses by july. in england, truck drivers remain stuck at the border of dover for the fourth night. they are trying to get into france but all drivers must be tested for covid because of the new strain sweeping the uk. >> the blockade at the border descended into chaos as truckers clashed with police. for days they've been stacked by the thousands. the french government demanding every driver get tested before entering the country. as britain recorded its highest number of new cases, the new mutant variant is surging at a dangerous rate. millions more suffer a tier four lockdown on christmas day. >> it is absolutely vital that we act. we cannot have the kind of christmas we all yearn for. >> it is already a christmas no

one yearned for. shutting down shops and pubs has dealt a further blow to the economy that already suffered its worst down turn for 300 years. >> the lockdown in london and england has been imposed and the emerge ans of a new strain thought to be 70% more transmissible. no holiday visits to family or friends unless they live alone. more than half of the country faces the same fate with no end in sight. >> cbs news, london. there is anger this morning after newly released body camera show a columbus officer shoot and kill a black man holding a phone. a warning it might be tough to watch. the officer approaches the

47 year old andre hill who was inside a garage. he appears to show a cell phone and moves forward when the officer fired. no weapon was called on him. officers were called to the home after getting a noise complaint. hill was visiting someone at the time. we have more coming up on this story this morning. the volcano is erupting on sunday after two years of relative silence. coming up on cbs morning news, an explosion in baltimore. and floating a pardon. the parents behind a famous balloon hoax have their record wiped clean. this is the cbs morning news.

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candidate andrew yang is planning to run for mayor of new york city. he's filed paperwork to become a candidate in next year's race. yang dropped out of the presidential race in february after poor showings in iowa and new hampshire. if he wins, he'd be new york's first asian-american mayor. >> pardons were issued in a balloon hoax and an explosion in baltimore. >> the baltimore sun reports 21 construction workers were injured in a downtown gas and electric building. construction work was being done on the air handling and boiler system that likely caused the explosion. two window washers had to be rescued after they were hanging stories from the ground.

>> i have no idea where it is coming from. it could be my building, the building next door. all i could think was i got to get out. >> the building was largely empty because of the holidays and the coronavirus pandemic. the rockets' season opener was postponed due to coronavirus issues. scheduled to play the oklahoma city thunder last night in houston. star guard james harden was barred after being fined $50,000 for violating nba health and safety protocol. seven other players also unavailable for virus related reasons. that left the rockets without the mandated eight players for the game. the denver post reports colorado governor pardoned the parents behind the 2009 balloon boy hoax. they reported their six year old son accidentally floated away. the balloon floated more than 50

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attention. people are whipping out their cell phones. the only fully electric vehicle allowed on the streets of new york city as a cab. on the cbs money watch, the fallout over president trump's veto of the defense bill and kfc has an option for video game players. >> keeping your seat warm. the stock market is open today but only for an abbreviated session ahead of christmas day. yesterday, the three major indices ended mixed as they shrugged off the demand for changes. the dow gained 114 points, the nasdaq slipped 36 and the s&p 500 added 2 points. president trump made good on threats to veto the annual defense policy bill setting up the first override vote of his presidency. mr. trump wants lawmakers to

include limits on social media companies and to strip out language that allows the renaming of military bases that honor con federal leaders. top democrats and republicans are not happy with the move. saying u.s. troops should never be denied what they need ever. more than 430,000 bottles of excedri nrch have been recalled for holes in the bottle. including many aspirin products sold between march 2018 and this september. the products including migraine and pm headache packages violated law and could lead to injury. no injuries have been reported. gamers can have your chicken and eat it too. looking at the kf console. not only can you play video

games but the device comes with a build-in grill to warm your chicken while you play. powered by intel. the chain posted the video in june after the debut of the play station 5. kfc has yet to announce when the kf console will be available. they are calling that little drawer the chicken chamber. >> kfc constantly does stuff like this you wonder if it is real or not. this reminds me of an episode of the office. there was an episode michael scott had a george foreman grill. this is an accident waiting to happen. >> i imagine having greasy hands and touching your gaming things. >> naomi ruk yim in new york. thank you.

santa delivers his message to families as he gets ready for his annual journey around the world. delivers his message to families as he gets ready for his annual journey around the world. 12 hours?! who studies that long? mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs. essential for sewing, but maybe not needles. for people with certain inflammatory conditions. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz. the first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to severe ulcerative colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections.

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♪ ♪ sweet caroline ♪ nothing like a virtual end decision of the classic sweet caroline to lift the spirits. the legendary singer released a video of people around the world. performing his 1969 hit. a statement at the beginning of the video says 2020 has been a tough year for everyone, so we wanted to bring people together the best way we know how through music. diamond released a new album last month with the london symphony. >> today is dr. anthony fauci's 80th birthday. he's being honored in a special way. mayor bowser declared today as

dr. fauci day in washington, d.c. he's been a leading voice on the pandemic and will serve as president-elect biden's chief medical officer. fauci and his wife have lived in the district since 1977 according to the mayor's proclamation. santa had a message for everyone to stay safe and healthy. yesterday, he set off from his home town on the arctic circle. due to coronavirus restrictions, there were no crowds this year to see him off. he hoped the christmas season would bring a little relief. >> now is the time to relax and spend christmas with your loved ones but also worth remembering friends and relatives or even acquaintances who can be connected in a variety of new different ways. >> in previous years, thousands have visited santa's village in northern finland. coming up in our series, a more perfect union.

we'll meet a group trying to close the gender gap in the construction industry. i'm diane king hall. this is the cbs morning news. bs morning news. #1 for diabetic dry skin* #1 for psoriasis symptom relief* and #1 for eczema symptom relief* gold bond champion your skin subut when we realized she wasn hebattling sensitive skin, we switched to tide plus downy free. it's gentle on her skin, and out cleans our old bargain detergent. tide pods plus downy free. safe for sensitive skin with eczema and psoriasis. in a whole new way. now roomba vacuums exactly where you need it, and offers personalized cleaning suggestions for a clean unique to you and your home. roomba and the irobot home app. only from irobot. ♪

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our top stories this morning, president trump issued more than two dozen pardons last night. ex campaign manager paul manafort and roger stone both convicted as probes into the russia interference in the 2016 election. his son in-law's father kushner also issued a pardon. >> today, house democrats continue to work on increasing the

stimulus check after the president demanded americans get $2,000 instead of $600. it is a long shot since democrats need republicans to agree. >> christmas wish lists look a little different. many children are reflecting the pain of the pandemic in their letters to santa. we have the story. >> reporter: outside of the ugly mutt coffee house in burbank, california. there is a big red mailbox just for letters to santa. >> i asked for an lol big doll. >> i want a my little pony adventure. the letters also reflect the reality of this year. >> the owner of the ugly mug. >> they requested santa to be safe and reminded him to wear his mask and gloves and said they are prepacking his cookies to keep him extra safe. >> we did get a lot of letters this year.

the united states postal service received 24,000 letters. the program usually sees an up tick in letters during times of crisis. 2020 was no different. letters like this one. >> i don't want anything for christmas, can you please find a cure for covid-19 to save the world. >> and this one. >> i hope you, mrs. clause, the elves and and reindeer stay safe from the virus. >> no matter the request, the spirit of christmas remains. >> they are very selfless children. that is wonderful to see as well. >> a reminder of the magic of the season. reporting for cbs news. coming up this morning, doctors share a video diary of their experiences and symptoms after receiving the covid

vaccine. in our series, we'll meet a group trying to close the gender gap in the construction industry. we'll share a story of love and loss and how a woman discovered her grandfather was nat king cole. that's the cbs morning news for this thursday. thanks for watching. i'm diane king hall. have a great day.