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alex witt. we begin with the president throwing a wrench into a crucial lifeline that kept millions of americans afloat in the pandemic. the legislation could provide much needed covid relief. the president has yet to sign that sweeping relief bill. part of the greatest sleeping package. this morning both democrat and republican lawmakers shares in their frustration of the president's ri sesistance. >> it is insane, really insane, and this president is finally going to do the ieright thing f the person people. >> i know he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks. he will be remembered for chaos, misery, and erratic behavior.

>> congress is preparing for a show down as the government is on the brink of shutting down. but as the relief package hangs in limbo it is the american people suffering the consequences. >> you know, it is sad. it is very upsetting that again, not only myself, but many others are in the same situation that i am in. and it is wintertime. i'm in survival mode. >> let's go to josh letterman. he is in florida where the president has been staying for the last several days. any signs that will will sin the bill before the new year? >> i wish i had better news for you. if you're reading the tea leaves on twitter, as members of

congress are doing, all signs point to the president more dug in than ever in opposition to this legislation as it stands right now. the only thing that we heard from president trump on this is the last many days has been on twitter where he is repeating his insistence. he also retweeted that visit owe on thursday where he first announced this bomb shell. as far as steve mnuchin who assured lawmakers that the president would support it, we have not heard from him since. now a treasury department secretary tells me that mnuchin who is currently with his children for the holidays is in daily contact with president trump and members of congress from both sides of the aisle. officials in washington

centralble to find a way out, but the frustration from democrats and republicans is quickly mounting as the ramifications continue to build up. take a listen to what congressman steve cohen had to say about this just this morning. >> we're at the mercy at responding to a man not in concert with the difficult times that people are facing. he shows that he cares about one person, and that is trump. >> and alex, i want to clear up one thing. we got really good questions from viewers about why congress can't simply vote to over ride the veto, but he has not veto'd it, he is just sitting on the legislation. there is nothing for congress to override. as far as that government shut down looming, there, too,

congress theoretically could pass a stop-gap spending measure to keep government funding until joe biden takes office on january 20th. once they passed that legislation they would go right to president trump for his signature. even there they would not have the government funded unless the president was willing to back down. >> i'm really glad you made that explanation. it is like the dust is gathering on this bill as it sits on the presidents desk. joining me now is jeff mason. gentleman, welcome to you both. what do you think the president's motivation is. why didn't he sign for the bill. >> it is a simple and direct question and i don't know the

answer. but as we earlier said, he won't just be remembered for saying $600 checks are enough. he is the person at the end of the awful year that did not allow the $600 checks to go out and led to unemployment aide and other critical aide at that point to stop from going through. >> are people around the president showing any indication of fatigue with which whole mess behind the scenes? >> it is hard for me to say that. i have not seen a lot of those peep, alex. but i think in general the fa teal is probably an appropriate word. i mean josh was referring just now to secretary mnuchin. that is the crash treasury secr that negotiated this deal with good faith with lawmakers, and

republican and democratic sides. and president trump was told more. so i think fatigue and frustration are probably accurate adjectives. >> i'm curious because there are a lot of real life consequences that come along with this. you have millions struggling to make ends meet including spotters of the president, what do they make of this? >> you hear that people were disappointed it was only $600, but anything is better than nothing. but they were outside of that stimulus money in people's pockets, two federal unemployment programs have expired because the president didn't sign the bill yesterday. so what that mean social security that when you talk to experts behind the scenes. they may have lost the next week of unemployment and there are millions of americans still dealing with the fact that the pandemic caused a recession and

president trump talked about being the person who is going to save people, to make sure they survive this pandemic and get money in their pockets. all of this, what is seen at the beginning at political posturing seems like it is not going well with the american people. you talk to them and their concern that the president is not going to sign this. there is nothing for congress to veto. they're running out of things to do here. >> you make a good point, they would have extended unemployment poi benefits by a few weeks. what about georgia senate runoff election. that is taking place just over a week from now. is there concern among republicans that the resistance could hurt them there? >> i think so. from the very beginning when president trump tweeted out that video you have people in georgia

that have concerned. immediately the democrats in those races were like $2,000 sounds great. they always wanted more money, and senators leoffler and others have been against it. they have raised more than a million dollars, that's a lot of attention, on donations to this race. that is a turn out, and whether or not they see them fighting for them will be huge. especially because 2,000 is a lot more than $600. >> we have david ignacious writing that biden's win is vulnerable. what do you see mapping between

now an january 6th? >> i think we will see more of the same. president trump continuing his efforts to under mine the election, to under mine president-elect biden, and to continue to call the results of the november election rigged. i think that he has not felt any movement in that position since early november, and before coming here to florida there is late nights. they are plotting strategyiies try to overturn the election. i don't think that will change. >> here is another angle, right? michael flynn's suggestion on news max that the president could invoke the insurrection act. is there any likelihood that is happening? >> the fact that that was even brought up in the oval office is

ju just. >> stunning. >> yes, stunning. i think it is important to note that the people around him that have been arguing that he has -- that he should be -- that he won the election, they tweeted that was not under consideration and the president called that fake news. so to your question i don't think it was considered at all. >> let's listen to something that congressman adam said this morning. >> i expect there will be a little chaos. i don't know about worried. if you convince people that congress can change the election and everything was stolen, there is a deep state theory driving

this, you could see people being drive ton violence. >> so election certification being what happeneds on january 6th, what do you think that day will look like? >> i think that will be different from what we have ever seen before. there is a lot of day that's have been come and gone that most americans don't pay attention to. we're getting ready for the next administration. jan 6th we're hearing could have a new congress at that point and we're hearing that people plan to, on the house side, they plan to fight the results of the election. they need one senator, one representative. what happens next is not clear. we have never gotten that far in this country. i think there is a lot of

concern from collkol scholars a day americans that it could represent a different level of changing elections and changing ultimates that people would not want to see, right? at some point the shoe will be on the other foot and this has all been a continued instance of goal posts being moved. starting with lawsuits from the allies, wasnent to the state legislature. to now january. >> i will tell you, i frequently said in the last few years, buckle up, everybody. thank you so much. everyone. there is now a post holiday surge in covid cases. how worried are officials about

what may be happening coming their way the next couple weeks. >> we talked about how some of the numbers might be improving a little bit. that it was possibly the end of the thanksgiving surge. just in the last few minutes we got the latest numbers from the department of health. 50,000 new cases in the last 24 hours. we have to be careful of that because some of that may be a backlog from places not reporting over the christmas holiday. it shows that we're not out of this yet, and the local hospitals are already rationing care. >> every morning hospitals are huddling with each other trying to distribute patients in a way to make sure that everybody gets

the best care. we're very concerned about the effects of christmas and new years on our health care system. >> the eyes in california are on intensive care units. based on the state's formula there is no capacity. it is different from place to place. we're looking at 11% capacity. that has to be included in people going in to intensive cares. some are stretched thin and some are just not there. a lot of concern as we get through this christmas surge. >> ye, there was zero% capacity in the icu units. pretty frightening.

okay, pulling back the curtain on what police go through in a crisis. they scribe what happened to them, next. downy unstopables

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mine's sash. back to breaking news in nashville as police officers recognize their frantic efforts to save lives right before the christmas day explosion in nashville. the officers themselves gave an emotional count of how they worked furiously to help others and how they survived a close call with that rv bomb. >> i was thrown into the trump, i turn around to see a very orange sky. a lot of smoke. i will never forget the smoke. had. >> i'm a spiritual person. >> i feel vr lucky to be alive. to say hello to my family, is a

that i'm unjoured along with other officers. i grateful for the quick response to other officers and everyone else. j i don't know, if you're going to play a sound bite it is so extraordinary to see these mostly young officers and what they went through and to feel the emotions they're going through today. these officers, here before the explosion and they talked about the effort they talk about how they felt the impact of the blast and they are here now to talk about that now. i want you to listen so what they told us from they're own

words. listen to what they said. >>. >> i heard that i needed to go down and check on topping who was by herself, as i turn around, you know, it felt like i onld took three steps, the music stopped, and as i'm working back now i see orange and i hear a loud boom. >>. >> i saw the biggest flames that i have ever ever seen, the biggest explosion, and i just saw orange. i saw him stumble. i haelt tfelt the heat, the wav blinked and i could not see him for a second and i lost it and i just took off in a sprint. i have never grabbed somebody so hard in my life.

>> i got on the radio to make sure wells was okay. but from the blast he had some hearing loss. so that is when amanda got on and said he was okay. i was trying to make sure all of our people were okay. >> we did not get the standard briefing that we have grown accustomed to. they reiterated what we have from local officials and that is the idea that nashville is safe, there is no ongoing threat. there is still no president or clear motive for why that took place. we heard from senior law enforcement agencies from officials that told nbc news this ted bit earlier this morning. there have been delays. and one thing is because of the wind that you have been dealing

with here. their saying with the broken glass they had to watch out for the safety of their crews as they have been going through to try to process that scene bit by bit. it is not just one block, but it stretches several blocks. we also know that area is starting to shrink. so they're getting aceps they're starting to wrap up their work. >> thank you, you brought me to tears but i was able to come back before going back to you. we're going to bring in malcolm na nanz. we rarely get the curtain pulled back on what a law enforcement officer goes through. as a person trying to protect the public, they're trying to

protect themselves but it seems like these heros just went full force. they were listening to a count down that sounded erie and macob. >> it is extraordinary for me, i have been in the past radius and the only difference is we had casualties. this is extraordinary heroism. it chilled me to hear them and to no many people that are veterans and who now how they feel, looking for their fellow officers, that is really extraordina extraordinary. we will determine what is up with the bomber and thousand all came out. these officers here were really something to be praised.

>> give me a sense of your interpretation for how things played out, was it as you would expect given the circumstances? >> no, this bombing will be you name in american ahistory. driving there, sitting there for five hours, then the initial report came in of 20 to 30 gunshots fired around 5:30 in the morning. >> can i ask you about that? what that was? do you think there were gunshots fired there? might it have been part of a recording? has that been figured out? >>. >> >>. >> we won't be able to figure that out, was there firearms, was brass laying around. you know we have worked in

police stations with simulations with air compressed guns. it could have been a recording considering how loud it was. it was designed to get the police there to conduct the evacuation and then hear that count down. and then around 6:00 in the morning when the countdown started, they had about 30 to 45 minutes to get the innocent people out of there. there is so many strange things. >> there was cameras on the rvs and a creepy feeling they were being moderated. i applaud the officer who went up and looked into the rv, but the permanent that did this, what do you make of that person,

that individual? can you put anything there that we understand? >> this is a question for -- we call them bomb masters, right? the guy constructing the device, okay? he has his entire process of how he is constructing it, why he is constructing it, how he will deliver it. how he will detonate it. this is a really unique attack. i have not seen anything like this and i had v seen a lot of amazing attacks. was he live streaming? was he making a history call record of it? was he the person in the vehicle? it is quite possible that we already know that he possibly died in that attack. so all of these things are unique. the law enforcement officer running up to the actual vehicle

and looking in, i have fwhn that spot. at that point you take the mind-set that you're running dead and that you have to do whatever you can at that moment? >> yeah, for sure. >> when you say this is uniquely american, what do you mean by that. >> i have gone through a pantheon on bombs and weapons. the last suicide car bomb was in 1927 of all of the hundreds and we have never seen one wired quite this way. playing music, giving a count gun. they were calling in a bomb and there was a live weapon system

there. this was designed to clear out the soft targets, the civilians, and using that to destroy whatever his target was. and it might have been the at&t building. they are keeping tight lips on this one. >> yeah, we just don't know a lot about this, whether or not it is for sure a suicide bombing or more speculation. thank you for your heroism. certainly in the past. that's why we have you in the show. first he got the placebo, and now he got the real thing. explains how the two shots were different.

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now to the latest in the

coronavirus pandemic. the country now has more than 19 million cases. it is the fourth time this month that a million cases has been added each time in less that a week. between moderna and pfizer, two million americans have been given the first dose. officials say distribution is right on schedule. >> 20 million vaccinations distributed by the first week in january. we expect another 30 gone in january. i expect any american that wants a vk seen can be vaccinated by june. >> any traveling fra the u.s. to the uk must have a negative coronavirus test prior to departure. the cdc issued new guidance that people with underlying health conditions can receive the vaccine. that includes people with a

weakened immune system, hiv positive, and those with an auto immune disorder. doctor, welcome back to the broadcast. let's get back to history with you. you parparticipated. you learned you had the placebo. now you have a real dose of the vaccine, how did that go? how do you feel? >> it went well. of course it wasn't perfect. when i got the placebo a few months ago i had many of the same symptoms. i thought i had more symptoms than i had with the real vaccine. it shows the reason why we do randomized trials. so it is very interesting and

this is why we do the trials this way. >> i was speaking with a friend of mine yesterday who is a front-line worker and got the first injection and felt really run down for the last four or five days. not herself at all. we didn't hear about much after the first injection. it was more after the second that one would expect to have a reaction. but you're saying that would be totally normal even. >> it could be and it is actually a sign that the mim mun system is works and responding in a way that we expect to a vaccine. all it is is a decoy for the actual virus. there is no chance for you to get it, but what it does is it e elicits your own immune system. it is your own immune system coming up. that's why we feel tired, feefr, pain, so it it is important to

differentiate. there was very few to none for any of these vaccines. >> let's talk about distribution, how many people have been vaccinated in newark and new jersey. >> so far we have surpassed 2,000 vaccinations and we're only on faze 1 a of the priorityization. so we are really doing only health care workers, long term care residents. on the order of temperatures of thousands a, they are managing the vaccine rollout, so so it is going well and we're making use of all of the stock that we're getting. and we're setting up a system to administer the vk seen from the deliver ri and safe storage, it has to be ultra cold. and the other thing is that we're setting up a model that i

think will be used. we're money the first hospitals to do it and that is exciting. >> what about where we are now with almost two million americans now having been given either the moderna and pfizer vaccine. is there any way to know if one is better than the other? is there any evidence thus far? >> one thing we know is that from the trials we have seen a very similar effectiveness and safety profile. so folks should not been concerned what we see now that because of tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands worldwide are getting those vak seeps, it is quite low and a lot of people are focusing on allergic reactions, the chance

of that is about one in 200, and a chance from a reaction like penc penc pencillen. so it is important to con t contexualize all of that. >> just looking at this it would seem as if efficacy is about the same even more so for some categories. you look at the older people add 100%, that is remarkable. it looks like moderna has more severe side effects. is that something that people should be warned about if they're given the moderna vaccine, and is there a way to know which one will be disseminated in which place? >> this is an on-going

assessments where we're giving vaccines to everybody. and adverse events are recorded and reported in post market surveillance. we have to make sure we follow that closely and people should be given the honest information about the incidents of side effects. it all has to be put into context. the moderna vaccine is easier to handle because it doesn't require the ultra cold storage. so folks should not feel like they should get one or the other based on what we know. >> you want the vaccine so you don't get covid. thank you, happy new year to you and i will see you soon. >> up next, assessing the damage from the rub shan tacking case.

and what they're doing to pardon edward snowden. and so much mor. only on "the upper hands." life doesn't stop for a cold. [man] honey... [woman] honey that's why there's new dayquil severe honey. it's maximum strength cold and flu medicine with soothing honey-licious taste. dayquil honey. the daytime coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, power through your day medicine.

new questions of whether or not president tlump respond to the massive hack of national security agencies. joining me now is michael mcfall. and natasha bertran. welcome to both of you.

ambassador, first to you, sirt, president trump has yet to acknowledge that russia was behind it. what can be done about this? can they put the tooth peace back in the tube? >> no, i don't think so, but i do think you need to respond to it. it is striking, maybe not surprising, but striking that president trump again has not responded to this. he never has for four years. so i guess we should not be surprised by that. i was surprised by what president biden put out. he vowed to retaliate. i hope they have a plan to do that. i think it underscores that we didn't take signcyber security

seriously. i hope they will develop new sources and a new doctrine. >> there is a lot to consider here. we're going to put up a list of some government agencies that were preefed. since we first learned of this what are experts telling you. are they more concerned now or less turned now. we know what has happened, does that all put a positive spin on it? that we're aware? >> it is better that we found out now than if we had not found out at all. it is at least a positive thing that the company was able to detect this malicioustivity and for them to, on their own, to

pull back and go to ground for a bit while they look for the damage done, but it is by no means not discoverable, right? biden is going to be entering his administration having these attackers having burroed into the m systems and them being burroed in. it is very serious that they did not detect it so how will that be addressed coming into officer. this is something that experts don't have their arms around. they don't know how extensive the penetration has been in terms of what hackers, able to

access. it will require more forensic work. >> imcurious are all people hacking from russia, are they necessarily connected to the government in some way? would the putin government never allow this without it's approval? >> i think from what we have learned and i want to emphasize there is probably other hacks that we have no information on whatsoever. that's why we're talking about it today. this hack from the reporting is from vurussian intelligence. could there be other hackers independent from the russian state? this was an intelligence operation run by putin, and there is no denying this would be approved. >> i want to ask you quickly

about what appears to be a push to pardon edward snowden. >> there is a group of republicans pushing for paul, a gates, urging the president to pardon him because he was treated unfairly. he was a hero, exposed spying by the obama administration. and this is something they can get the president's ear on. he is trying to, there is a lot of republican push back, to granting it. >> what do we know about noden, is he in contact with the --

>> i am ambassador when he came to russia in 2013. the same intelligence we are talking about. fsv is like the fbi. they gave him asigh lum. and the same people trying to kill nabaldi, by the way. there is a question whether or not he deserves a pardon. up to this point, he never distanced himself from the people attacking the united states. >> i believe he is still in touch with those types? sheltered by those types? >> i don't believe he is in touch, i think he is subsidized by them. i am speculating, i don't know

exactly. there is no evidence that he has a private sector job and working quietly. my guess is that he is intimately tied with the russian government. maybe he would prefer not to be. they are not going to let him go as a resource, intelligence resource for them to do the very thing that just happened to us. he has a lot of knowledge about our system. he may have been part of the information transfer that allowed them to do the hack

. >> life under covid, a dramatic illustration the divide between main street and wall street. a year ago, nasdaq roaring

almost 12,804. two points off the record closing on tuesday. and benefitting began to expend, poverty rate 11.7%, one can assume that that number may go higher. thank you for watching. my colleague is up next. happy new year! happy holidays everyone. of course you've seen underwear that fits like this...

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and be healthy. get off the floor and get on the aerotrainer. go to aerotrainer.com, that's a-e-r-o-trainer.com. good afternoon, we have a lot to get through over the next two hours. no signature. the president refusing to sign the bill to help millions of americans financially strapped in the covid economy. the federal government is headed toward a shutdown. yes, a shut down. the president instead of picking up a pen, he picked up his golf clubs that is his priority today. explosion investigation. clues authorities have in what happened in the nashville bombing, and what we are learning about the person investig