hello there. i'm chris jansing in for stephanie ruhle. it is thursday, december 24th, if you can believe it. and here's what's happening. we're days away from a government shutdown. millions of americans are waiting for support as crucial safety nets run out. and the president just lit a match and blew up months of work by congress, then got on a plane for florida. as politico put it this morning, no one on either side of pennsylvania avenue appears to know what trump's plan is or even if there is one. at this point it is unclear if he'll sign the covid relief funding bill that congress passed on monday. if he doesn't, the government could shut down early next week with millions left to navigate the holidays without the help they so desperately need. and that's not all. in his final days in office, trump is focusing on his own allies, issuing pardons for paul manafort, roger stone and charles kushner among others

late last night. he's had nothing to say about coronavirus continuing to ravage the nation. doctors warn that christmas gatherings will create another surge with hospitalizations already twice what they were in november and december. deaths on track to be higher than any month so far in the pandemic. but i've got an incredible team here to break it all down for us. josh lederman is in west palm beach, eli stokols and shawna thomas, an msnbc political contributor. merry christmas eve. what a last 24 hours we've had. eli, let me start with, are you hearing anything about the president's next move? he kind of blew this thing up and then left town. >> that's exactly what he did, chris. no, at this point, everybody is sort of waiting as the world turns for donald trump's next move. and i don't think there are too many aides or staffers that have figured it out.

this has always been a presidency, an audience of one presidency where it's always been about donald trump himself, the hallway of mirrors where he's watching tv, watching coverage of himself, reacting to that and we're seeing it sort of spin out of control here at the end. and there are even fewer quote/unquote adults in the room. a lot of these people have left the administration. most of them were never really able to influence the president anyway. and here at the end, post election, as he sees members of his own party start to acknowledge the reality that he can't acknowledge that he's not going to be president come january 20th, he has just turned more bitter and more unleashed perhaps than we have ever seen him. you just realitied off all the things yesterday that just happened in 24 hours that any one of them would be a huge story in a normal world. in this donald trump world at the end of his presidency, this is just the week of christmas. this is just something that we've sort of gotten accustomed to, but this is crazy given what's at stake if this relief

package fails on capitol hill. the unmitigated cronyism of these pardons. and it's all happening up against the backdrop of these senate runoffs in georgia that are going to determine control of the senate, and it just tells you that donald trump is going to do what he thinks benefits him. whether he's figured out his next move or not, that's what's going to determine what that move is, and he could care less about how this plays in terms of affecting those two runoffs in georgia and ultimately control of the senate. and this is all just a big mess left for joe biden come january 20th. it appears that he's fine with that, too. >> yeah, so, josh, what are you hearing? what does trump really want here? >> well, i think what he wants is to show for however many days he's left in office, he is still in charge. he still commands the ability to change the conversation from whatever else we might be talking about to president trump and to really decide the terms for how washington is going to operate.

and, look, he's right. we're now talking about him once again instead of about president-elect joe biden. instead of about the far upwards of 300,000 americans who have now died of coronavirus. now the president has long liked these direct checks to americans that he now wants to increase from $600 a person to about $2,000 a person. but that's something he could have negotiated at any point up until this. instead, the president was totally hands off throughout this negotiation process. in fact, house democrats had to practically beg his emissary steve mnuchin, the treasure secretary, to say, luke, what does the president support as far as these checks and the rest of this legislation. the $600 is where they got to based on their best guess of what president trump would accept. and now, after the bill has passed, both chambers of congress, he's throwing a whole wrench into the process asking for something very different. >> yeah, and a wrench is a nice way of putting it. shawna, what surprises me, i think, is that republicans seem

genuinely surprised. don bacon, a republican congressman from nebraska said on a gop call that trump threw us under the bus, but what would indicate to them that he wouldn't do that? and how much now does this become a loyalty test for republicans, especially as eli points out, senators perdue and loeffler, who were doing a victory lap over this bill? >> yeah, it's a very odd loyalty test for republicans because it pits helping people and acknowledging the incredible crisis that this country is in and how much money and food and everything people need against some conservative priorities in terms of how much money the federal government should be spending. it also sort of handed this weird democratic gift to nancy pelosi which i think we're going to see play out on the house floor today where they're going to try to submit an amendment for unanimous consent is, which is we're going to put this on

the floor and if no one objects it, that is to pass. and that amendment is to offer the $2,000 checks to americans and force republicans to -- or a republican, to come to the house floor and veto it. now it doesn't seem like there's any chance in the senate that mitch mcconnell is going to play that game with his chamber. but it just creates this confusion, and i got to think mitch mcconnell's head is exploding as much as mitch mcconnell's head can explode since he's a pretty calm guy when it comes to that georgia senate race. these two senators, kelly loeffler and david perdue, are sitting senators. they're literally the people who representative georgia right now. david perdue put out a campaign ad basically like, hey, help is coming, guys. and now is he going to say more help is coming and try to help the president? is any of that help going to come next week? it just creates a confusing situation that the democrats can run with, not just nancy pelosi but the two democrats running in georgia. but i think when you asked

about, you know, should they be surprised, i'm not sure any of us are surprised by this. and i'm not sure republicans are surprised that the president has thrown a wrench into this system. i do think everyone should be a little bit surprised that he vetoed the national defense authorization act which is the other thing in here. that's the bill that governs how the pentagon runs and how much money they spend. the bill that governs how much our troops get paid. it is one of those things that gets passed by democratic congresses, republican congresses. and one reason he blew it up, he didn't want them renaming bases named after confederate generals. so the congress should be able to do something about that soon, hopefully, especially since it's christmas, but, you know, these other things are a little up in the air and time is running out because of basically the congressional session is going to run out on january 3rd. >> yeah, which raises the question, eli, like what happens next? the picture we're looking at on

capitol hill is a live picture, a pro forma session gavelled in. but what do you make of the democrats' move today to vote on that $2,000 stimulus check? >> well, shawna said it was a gift the president gave to democrats where he endorsed their position where they've been all along for larger stimulus check. it makes sense they'd say let's do this. that nancy pelosi would retweet the president, his little video and say, all right, here, we'll call your bluff. let's do $2,000 checks. obviously, that's where mitch mcconnell's head explodes because they've been negotiating trying to get this and republicans have wanted this to end up at $600 stimulus checks. so it makes sense that democrats are going to come out and try to get this passed today on the house floor. but it is likely nothing more than a show vote to get republicans to oppose it. republicans will probably do the same, strip out some of the foreign aid that's in the bill and try to get, you know, make a point that they're doing what they need to do to get the

president more in line with where the president wants it. get the bill more in line with where the president wants it, but both of these votes will fail and we'll be back at scaque one and waiting trying to figure out what donald trump is going to do next? is he going to veto this bill and allow the government perhaps to shut down on monday, let unemployment benefits run out for millions of people, jeopardize the $600 checks that were going to go to millions of americans, all because he's upset? all because he wants to prove a point that he's still in charge. that's the unanswered question. and we may be waiting through the christmas holiday to find out. >> yeah, does he even know what he wants? does he even know what he wants to do or is going to do, shawna? and the implications, as we've touched on, are vast from money for struggling americans and businesses to money that if it isn't there could hold up vaccine distribution. it's like he's potentially driving a stake into his signature accomplishment which

is "operation warp speed" like, let's see if we can slow it down. >> yeah. i think we kind of do know what he wants. he wants to be president again. and he wants to show that he's currently president now as eli said. but he still wants to try to figure out a way to be president. how holding up checks for americans who don't have jobs, how holding up, you know, legislation that would extend the eviction moratorium, how that equals joe biden not getting sworn in on january 20th, i don't know. but that is apparently what he wants, and he wants people to kowtow to him a little bit. but these are -- this is people's lives. like this is what we're playing with now. and a government shutdown plays with more people not getting checks. and people don't lose their jobs. they won't be unemployed but they won't necessarily get paid for the work they do for a period of time.

so it's really confusing. i will say this, though. congress does wait until the last minute, and this isn't just about president trump and this isn't just about this particular year which has been terrible. congress does wait until the last minute to pass appropriations. congress does wait to the last minute -- >> shawna, i agree with you, but we've never been in the middle of a pandemic with millions of americans -- >> no, we haven't. >> -- out of work the way they are now and millions of americans waiting to get a shot that will literally change their lives. >> no. and we shouldn't be playing with that. but that is -- >> no. >> that is what the president is doing right now. >> that's where we are. shawna thomas, always great to see you. eli stokols, josh lederman, a happy christmas eve. and this morning, with 27 days to go, there's another big question -- who else will president trump pardon because

26 more people got pardons last night, include something key allies. paul manafort who pled guilty to financial fraud and lying to investigators. roger stone, who was convicted of lying to congress and witness tampering and charles kushner, jared kushner's dad who was locked up for tax evasion and lying to the fec. joining me, chuck rosenberg, now an msnbc contributor. good to see you, chuck. let's start big picture. look. controversial presidential pardons are not new. marc rich comes to mind. but a harvard count has 60 of the 65 trump pardons before wednesday going to someone with either a personal or a political connection to the president. have we ever seen anything like this? >> not in this volume, chris. the harvard study is a professor named jack goldsmith who pointed out that overwhelmingly, trump pardon goes to political allies, to friends and family.

you're right. we have seen troubling pardons in the past from other presidents. it's not new. what is new is the volume -- the volume of these types of pardons from this president is stunning. it's absolutely stunning. if you want to get a pardon from donald trump, it's good to either be related to him or to have supported him politically. those seem to be the two paths to pardon success. >> yeah, and andrew weissmann, who was a lead prosecutor for robert mueller, by the way, as you know, put it this way. >> what president decides out of all of the thousands of people who are seeking pardons and commutations that corrupt politicians, corrupt law enforcement officials, people engaged in really serious civil rights abuses, that those are the most deserving people in the nation to receive a presidential pardon. this is really a president who

has zero allegiance to the rule of law. >> so look at manafort and stone being pardoned. people who did not cooperate with an investigation. is it a fair conclusion that this is, as some people have suggested, just a final piece of a cover-up. they didn't talk, now their reward? >> right. the president does seem to be purchasing silence. or, if not doing that if not sort of directly doing that, chris, rewarding silence. in other words, you don't have to cooperate with the fbi or with federal prosecutors or you can lie to them, as a number of trump's cronies did. and don't worry, at the back end of my presidency, on the way out the door, i will take care of you. again, we've seen other presidents issue what i would consider to be improper if not corrupt pardons, but nothing that approaches the volume that this president has done.

and i think andrew is right. there are lots and lots of people who have over a lifetime following a conviction demonstrated remorse, made amends, accepted guilt and have lived a good and exemplary life. those are the people who deserve pardons. and in this rush of christmas pardons and out the door pardons by president trump, you are ignoring lots of people who are not friends and family, who are not political allies whose silence you did not seek to purchase, who may well deserve consideration. and my question is, what about them? >> yeah, and then you have charles kushner, father of the president's son-in-law, who, of course, was prosecuted by chris christie who laid all of it out in an interview with pbs last year. take a listen. >> i just think it was so obvious he had to be prosecuted. if a guy hoursires a prostitute seduce his brother in law and

then sends the videotape to his sister to prevent her from justifying before a grand jury, do i need more justification? it's one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes i prosecuted when i was u.s. attorney. we had load of disgusting crime going on there. >> and it goes beyond that, chuck, because kushner has said in the past, he didn't want a pardon. he didn't want a pardon because it would mean too much publicity. so maybe, i don't know, maybe there was no one in the entire country who actually wanted a pardon who might have been judged more deserving. it's almost crazy the number of people who he has pardoned who did not petition for one. >> well, that's a great point, chris, because normally, and this is not normal at all, you petition for a pardon. you explain why you think you deserve one. there's a very interesting supreme court case that dates back to 1915, so more than 100

years ago, and in that case, burdick, the supreme court said a pardon is an imputation of guilt. it applies your guilt. if you accept the pardon, you've accepted your guilt. that's why some people maybe don't want pardons. that said, nobody seems to be turning it down. not charles kushner, not any of the other recipients of the president's largess. nobody seems to be turning it down. president ford carried in his wallet to the day he died that excerpt from the burdick case because he pardoned richard nixon and it gave him comfort to know that in pardoning nixon it was an imputation of nixon's guilt and nixon in accepting the pardon had essentially confessed his guilt. >> chuck rosenberg, never a dull moment all year long. thank you so much for the expertise, the thoughtfulness you have brought to so many of these stories. we appreciate it. can we go back to capitol hill. we told you they gavelled into

session. as you know, nancy pelosi had basically said to the president, look, great, if you want $2,000 increase in direct payments, let's do it by unanimous consent. that has not happened. that has failed as expected. we're going to get you up to date on what's happening on capitol hill. also this morning, a record number of americans waking up in hospitals battling covid. and at the same time, a record number of travelers are going through airports. then later, outrage in ohio after an officer kills an unarmed black man. the disturbing new details this morning. [ thunder rumbles ] [ engine rumbling ] ♪

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welcome back. we're now up to five straight days that around a million people each day have passed through tsa checkpoints. so while travel is up, so is the number of cases. the number of hospitalizations, way up over the past few weeks, stressing our health care system. more than 119,000 americans are waking up in the hospital this morning. but none of that seems to be impacting these other numbers. aaa estimating more than 84 million people will travel from december 23rd, yesterday, through january 3rd. nbc's sam brock is in ft. lauderdale. gadi schwartz in los angeles where hospitals are on the brink. sam, just how busy are things where you are, and what are you hearing from travelers who clearly think getting on a plane

is worth the risk? >> there's no doubt about it, chris. there's evidently a disconnect between what public officials are telling people to do and what they're actually doing. the tsa just released the traveler through-put for yesterday. chris, 1.19 million people flew. that is more than half of what it was at this same day last year when there was no pandemic. in terms of what i'm seeing on the ground level, everyone will have their own reaction to looking at a busy airport. ft. lauderdale is rather calm right now. what i saw at miami international airport last night was, for lack of a better word, stunning. throngs of people there. they were with their families standing in security checkpoints that went for gates long. there were so many people there. obviously, the social distancing, it's going to look a little longer maybe normally than it would but talking to folks, they're going to places like florida, south america, the caribbean. locations and destinations you'd expect people to normally be traveling if it was a typical

year. obviously, this is not. i interviewed one woman who is going back to brazil to see her parents, not without some trepidation, though. health experts say if you can, don't fly home. don't go see mom and dad, especially if they're older. how come you made the decision i'm going to go home? >> i mean, i bought this flight seven months ago, so i'm real excited to see them. i don't know. i feel like -- i don't know how to explain. i just want to see them. i think it will be okay. i don't really think it's really dangerous, the coronavirus. >> the overwhelming number of travelers who i spoke with told me, look, covid is not going to cost us christmas. we're still going to get together. that's what we're hearing. and you would think at this point, given the surge of patients in hospitals that that would not be the mentality. but the reality is at least among the population of people out there flying right now it is. and the aaa projections of 80

million people traveling. 3 million estimated by plane. this was a few weeks ago according to aaa. the tsa figures showed we smashed that. in the last five days more than 5 million people. tack on the 1.19, you're looking at 6-plus million people in six days. >> i am just stunned looking at those pictures as clearly you were, sam. g gadi, hospitalizations are surging. how say post holiday surge when you look at all the people who are deciding, you know what? i'm going to take my chances and so go see mom and dad or whoever. >> just hearing sam talk, it makes you nervous because we're really headed into unchartered territory here. hospitals in california have never seen it this bad and some places there are lines of patients down hallways, in conference rooms, inside of the hospitals and what health experts here say is that right

now we are seeing the result of a surge on top of a surge from thanksgiving. so just to put that in perspective. early in november, before people started gathering for thanksgiving here in los angeles, we were seeing about 12 deaths a day. in the weeks after, people started gathering for thanksgiving. the number of deaths shot up to around 70 to 80 deaths a day. approximately a death every 20 minutes and the outbreaks from that spread. and yesterday we saw the highest deaths in los angeles at about 140. and that is all before the christmas gatherings that we know are likely to happen. so the fear now is that we're going to see a surge on top of a surge on top of a surge with each one getting exponentially worse. >> gadi schwartz, sam brock, guys, thank you for being out there and reporting on these stories. we appreciate it. coming up, the growing blowback, including from capitol hill, to president trump's most recent wave of pardons for some of his longtime friends and confidantes. tes.

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welcome back, just moments ago, republican lawmakers blocked an effort to vote on the beefed up $2,000 stimulus check. the house is now adjourned until

monday when democrats will try again to approve the higher checks. democrats are more than willing to play ball with president trump's latest demands as house republicans are trying to wiggle out of the box the president has put them in. trump has created christmas chaos on capitol hill after he threw a wrench in a $900 billion bipartisan coronavirus relief bill, then following through on his threat to veto the military'militar military's annual spending bill. with me, vice chair of the armed services committee. congressman, good to see you. even before we talk about all of that, the president blowing up legislation, i would like to get your reaction to president trump's most recent pardons, which republican senator sasse called rotten to the core. how do you see it? >> yeah, absolutely. these are outrageous pardons. no surprise. we've seen them before. last year, the president pardoned war criminals, military

service members convicted of war crimes. and here, just this week, he pardons members of the black water security team who the fbi found murdered 14 iraqi civilians. this is a violation of the law, human rights. and it ignores the dignity, particularly in the case of the iraqi civilians, of those victims and their families. it's outrageous. and the unfortunate reality is that either the courts nor congress can stop it because the president has unchecked power under the constitution. certain lly with this president that's a constitutional flaw. n. the meantime, while issuing pardons, president trump is blowing up a lot of what congress has gotten accomplished over the last many days.

republicans, as you know, just blocked nancy pelosi's attempt for unanimous consent vote on the issue of those higher direct payments. so you guys go back on monday. then what, and how worried are you about what might happen? >> look, we're going to go back on monday to override president trump's veto of the defense authorization act. that's giving pay raises to troops, it's putting more money into military housing. it's taking care of military families. but we're also going to pass a bill that is going to increase that direct cash assistance to $2,000. the democrats have been calling for that since back in may. and unfortunately, president trump has been asleep at the switch. he's been awol on these emergency relief negotiations, and he didn't press his republicans to join democrats to provide that relief. so now you've got too many americans who are suffering. and let's remember that if president trump vetoes this bill, it's not just the emergency relief. government would shut down three

days after christmas. the eviction moratorium for renters would end five days after christmas, and unemployment insurance benefits would end the day after christmas. so there's a lot at stake in president trump's veto threat. and again, like the pardons, very outrageous here. >> so do you think -- i mean, honestly, that we're at real risk of a government shutdown? >> you know, look, it's hard to say. we've got a wild card in president trump. he continues to ignore the reality that his days are numbered in office. he's in complete denial and with the types of pardons we're seeing with vetoing the defense authorization act, threatening to veto the emergency relief and omni bus funding. we've got a wild card in president trump. so it's hard to say, but congress needs to be prepared to react. so i'm calling on republicans to

join us, to join democrats to ensure that government stays open and we provide relief to the american people. >> look, i know it's very difficult to sort of parse what he's thinking, but what is your thought because the republican party has been put in a box by this. what's the president's motivation for the mess he's created in his own party? >> well, first of all, you say that the republicans have been put in a box. they've put themselves in this box because for four years they've enabled this president. and they have sat by idly as he has committed impeachable offenses, as he has offended the constitution, the american people, the military. so the republicans have painted themselves into the box. having said that, i do believe that certainly when it comes to defense authorization act, republicans will join democrats. we will override that veto on monday and should the president

act so recklessly and veto the emergency relief and the omnibus, i just have to believe that republicans will join democrats because republicans do not want to see government shut down. republicans, like democrats, do want to deliver relief to the american people. democrats want to deliver more, but republicans would join us in keeping government open and delivering relief. i've got to believe that. >> congressman anthony brown of maryland, really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us on this christmas eve. thank you so much, and happy holidays to you and yours. meantime, this morning, an ohio police officer has been relieved of his duties with pay after shooting a black man who later died. now that man's family is demanding justice. blayne alexander has the latest. i do need to warn you, though, the video of the shooting is disturbing. >> reporter: it was less than 60

seconds from the moment officer adam coy got out of his car to when he shot andre hill, an unarmed black man who later died. this shows the final moments of hill's life. officer coy approaches a garage. inside, hill walking toward the officer with a cell phone in one hand. the other out of view. seconds later, the officer shoots. there is no audio because coy did not activate his body-worn camera until after pulling the trigger. once he turns the camera on -- >> get your hand up now! >> reporter: it captures the chaotic aftermath with hill lying on the ground for more than five minutes before anyone rendered aid. >> roll over, dude. >> reporter: the city's mayor outraged. >> to see him lying in the driveway, minute after minute after minute after minute with no attempt to render aid and

comfort. that is a stunning disregard for life. and in this case, black life. >> reporter: this morning, the officer, a 19-year veteran of the force, has been relieved of his duty with pay. >> my commitment, my legal obligation is to conduct a fair, impartial hearing, and that is what i intend to do. >> reporter: nbc news has reached out to the police union for comment, but we have not heard back. the initial 911 call came from a neighbor concerned after hearing a car running in the middle of the night. >> you can hear it revving up a little bit. >> reporter: officials say hill was known to the people in the house, not an intruder. in a facebook post, hill's sister shawna wrights, my brother was snatched away from me, our family. i'm deeply hurt and in pain. the violence against us, this has to stop right now. and attorney ben crump who is now representing the family writing, police reforms and a national standard for police behavior is so desperately

needed. we will not stop until we get justice for andre. >> that was blayne alexander reporting. coming up -- growing restrictions in the uk kick in on the day after christmas because of that new covid strain. should more action be taken here in the u.s.? ♪ ♪ smooth driving pays off. ♪ with allstate, the safer you drive the more you save. ♪ you never been in better hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today.

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right now in britain that the government is preparing to clamp down on kind of the rest of the country. there's 6 million britons are going to join 18 million britons already under that tier 4 restriction. tier 4 really, it's more like a lockdown. basically just going exactly back to where britain was and a lot of other countries were just a couple of months ago. that's because it's not just that new strain. there's another new strain of which two cases have been seen in britain. those two cases are in isolation. the other strain was first noticed in south africa and now there's, of course, travel restrictions on south africa. a lot of other countries throughout the world imposed travel restrictions on south africa just as they've done with great britain. this is all a major source of concern and that's why the british government appears to be moving right after christmas to put these restrictions in place. a lot of scientists saying that waiting until right after christmas, that's going to be too late.

chris? >> matt bradley, thank you for that. appreciate it. let me glibring in dr. natalie azar. so it's interesting to me, natalie, we're hearing from experts here in the u.s., mutations are normal. that they're not a reason for panic. and i want to play something that dr. anthony fauci said. >> is this going to be eluding the protection that's afforded by a vaccine? again, thus far, what we looked at doesn't indicate that that's the case. >> so i think that's been a pretty consistent message from the cdc, from the nih. so why do we seem pretty calm, frankly, about this, and the cdc has said let probably already here while europe is essentially blowing up christmas in reaction to the mutations. why the difference? >> i agree, chris, i think there feels like there's a little bit of a disconnect or maybe some

discrepancy. i would say that the interpretation that i'm getting when i listen to experts is that there really is this balance of -- they are very concerned. and they are looking at this very closely. but they're not ready to ring the alarm bell yet. and i think the reason is that not just looking at how easily this virus, this new variant spreads, how much more contagious it is but we also have to look at, is it more pathogenic? is it causing more severe disease? by all accounts at this point, it doesn't appear so. in terms of evading the protection, experts have said, number one, they're confident and very hopeful that the vaccine will still offer protection. in fact, those studies are ongoing as we speak. but even if it were to be rendered slightly less effective, i've heard experts throw out a number of perhaps 80% effective as opposed to 95% effective. so i think that's why we're

getting the message here that there's not this call for, you know, these massive restrictive lockdown measures again here in the u.s. >> okay. as of wednesday, the cdc touted that more than a million doses of the covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the past two weeks. but they also acknowledge that the u.s. isn't going to meet the original goal of having 20 million people vaccinated by the end of the year. in fact, i think some, maybe 5 million of those 20 million doses won't even get to where they need to go until january. do we need to temper our expectations of when life will return to normal? >> well, i think the short answer is, yes, i think we need to think of this as a marathon, not a sprint across the board. the whole vaccine rollout, think about it, there's deciding where it's going to go, allocation, distribution, access and then execution. there are so many places in that chain of events where hiccups

can happen. not to mention the fact, the cold chain freezing requirement for pfizer and moderna, even though moderna is then able to be in a refrigeration standard temperature for 30 days. it still needs to be packaged in the cold temperatures. and you lay this on top of, you know, a fairly neglected and deficient public health infrastructure. i can't say that i'm surprised we didn't meet that original goal. having said that, things are moving. we're learning from our mistakes. the moderna vaccine on board, on top of the pfizer. i think we'll get there. but it was never going to happen. you know, this expectation to have 20 million people vaccinated by the end of the year, that was a goal. i don't think we'll meet that, but i think in short order we'll get to the numbers we need to get to. >> dr. natalie azar, always good to see you. meantime, all of the shopping and shipping americans

have been doing over the past couple of weeks has led to an historic amount of mail and packages making their way across the globe. are you one of the people waiting for the last delivery to make it in time for christmas? what you should know, after the break. you'll get planning and e to help you prepare for the future, without sacrificing what's most important to you today. because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction you're moving is forward.

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post office in new york city, which is where i was yesterday at a post office, clearly mine are not going to get there on time but how are things looking? >> reporter: hey, chris, good morning to you. happy holidays. we've been posted in front of this post office here in the upper west side and it's been relatively quiet all morning long, but behind the scenes it's a much different story with the u.s. postal service, u.p.s. and fedex, they have maxed out this year, which could mean millions of packages will be arriving late. on this christmas eve, u.s. shipping services are now on their final push. a tidal wave of packages this holiday season swamped their systems. roughly 3 million, 30% more than this time last year, as the pandemic drove more shoppers to buy online. for those who deliver for a living, it's been a rough nine months. >> when you add in the stress of the covid pandemic, and going to

work every day as front line essential workers since march and the short staffing, postal workers are truly exhausted. >> reporter: the post office added tens of thousands of seasonal workers, extended overtime and expanded sunday deliveries. still, the pandemic hit their ranks hard. roughly 19,000 workers are out every day nationwide because of virus-related issues. competitors u.p.s. and fedex have contracts with retailers. the number of shipments hits the limit, the surplus spills over to the u.s. postal system. >> the postal service ended up decei delivering 6 million packages a day. >> reporter: for those who waited until the last minute, retailers partnered with food delivery companies so check individual websites. macy's and bloomingdales are working with doordarn and sephora and dick's sporting goods with instacart.

for those waiting on delayed packages, here is another idea. >> they don't come, maybe cut out a picture of the present and give it to them that way in a little box. >> reporter: the real procrastinators out there, there are few options, not many at this point. you may want to consider buying virtually and sending an ecard and letting the person know that the gift is on the way. another option is same-day delivery. amazon prime, fedex and u.p.s. offer this service. however, it's only eligible in certain areas and of course, chris, it comes with a hefty price tag for waiting until the last minute. chris? >> it does, but you know what? i think people are going to be very forgiving this year, not the least of which is there was some vaccines that were being shipped and those took priority. kathy park, happy holidays. thank you for being out there for us today and coming up in our next hour, i'm going to be talking with a traveling nurse.

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unstopables in-wash scent booster downy unstopables to all the businesses make it through 2020... thank you for going the extra mile... and for the extra pump of caramel. thank you for the good food... and the good karma. thank you for all the deliveries... especially this one. you've reminded us that no matter what,

we can always find a way to bounce forward. so thank you, to our customers and to businesses everywhere, from all of us at comcast business. on this christmas eve several fast-moving stories

we're watching. last-minute stimulus check to increase to $2,000 failed. republicans blocking the move by democrats, less than an hour ago and they're not back until monday. so what's next? well, this puts the ball back in the president's court. >> surely the president of the united states, whether he's marlago has to feel the angst people are feeling this christmas eve and sign this bill. >> what we do know the president has a pen with him in florida. could there be more christmas pardons to sign, after last night's presents to paul manafort, roger stone and charles kushner. the president choosing pardon over pandemic with cases in a number of states continuing to rise and the country now reporting more hospitalizations than at any other point in the