Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Doesn't Sign COVID Relief Bill; Investigators Say Nashville Blast Likely a Suicide Bombing; California Medical Professionals Working to Exhaustion; One in 1,000 Americans Have Died from COVID-19; Some Nations Start Vaccinations before E.U. Rollout; Tel Aviv Hospital Celebrates Arrival of Vaccine; Georgia's GOP Candidates in Tough Spot over Stimulus; Trump Admin Makes Final Push to Finish U.S.-Mexico Border Wall. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 27, 2020 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[02:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world, I am Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, major developments in the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville. Investigators, focusing on a new theory behind the cause of the explosion.

With more Americans dying of COVID-19 this month than any other, President Trump let the clock strike midnight on that relief package. That means, millions could now be without unemployment benefits.

Plus, the rush to build the border wall before the Trump presidency ends. Supporters say it's vital for security and activists say an environmental disaster.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: The economic toll of the coronavirus, of course, has been staggering. Millions of Americans have just lost unemployment benefits and may soon lose eviction protection.

President Trump, refusing to sign the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill, the deadline for doing so, passing 2 hours ago. It also means, a possible government shutdown at midnight, on Monday.

This is despite the White House giving its blessing to the deal that passed Congress days ago. Mr. Trump, now saying it doesn't give Americans enough money. He tweeted Saturday, demanding that Congress raise the $600 in direct payments to $2,000. Also, blaming China.

Jeremy Diamond, traveling with the president, has the latest for us from Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Saturday, only digging his heels in further on the objections to the coronavirus relief bill. The president insisting once again, on Saturday, he wants to see those stimulus checks to Americans tripled from $600 to $2,000.

Tweeting, "I simply want to get our great people $2,000 rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in pork."

President Trump is saying here, all he wants is to increase these stimulus checks but if that was really the goal, the president might have spoken up before the legislation was passed.

Remember, the president only called the bill a disgrace and suggested he may not sign it or, perhaps, veto it, after Congress passed this legislation by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, a veto proof majority at that.

President Trump in the four days since he made that threat, hasn't been on the phone with congressional leadership. He's hasn't been meeting with advisors to find a way to salvage this relief.

Instead, we see the president at his Mar-a-lago resort, palling around with his friends, going out golfing as he did on Thursday and Friday. The president is doing this at a time when not only are key deadlines are coming up for hi to sign this legislation but also when millions of Americans are in need of that financial relief.

More than 20 million Americans currently unemployed and 12 million Americans losing their benefits this weekend if the president doesn't immediately sign this legislation.

The unemployment benefits, supplemental, provided by the federal government during this coronavirus pandemic. There are other key dates, also looming on Tuesday. The government will shut down amid a global pandemic, if the president doesn't sign this legislation into law.

Then, at the end of the, month in the year, on December 31st, the eviction moratoriums also expires. So critically needed relief here for Americans, who are struggling right now.

And the president could just sign this piece of legislation and that relief would quickly get dispersed. There is also concerns of vaccine distribution, with lots of vaccine distribution funding in this legislation as well.

That was one of the messages we heard from President-Elect Joe Biden on Saturday, warning that if the president doesn't sign this legislation, not only would he be hurting small businesses and American families but also, potentially, these very complex plans to distribute a coronavirus vaccine -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, traveling with the president, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Here to discuss further, Ryan Patel, a senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.

Good to see you, Ryan. This is crazy stuff. More than 20 million people in the U.S. getting unemployment benefits.

[02:05:00]

HOLMES: And now the president has not signed the bill and at least 10 million of them will see those benefits cut in a few days.

What will be the real world impacts of this president not signing a bill that his own people negotiated and was passed with a huge bipartisan majority?

RYAN PATEL, GLOBAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: Let's be clear, if there was any doubts that there wasn't an impact, let's clear it up. There is one. The question is, is it short term or long term?

That's a question we're asking about. And from an economy perspective, what we saw in the U.S., 9.3 million people filed claims under this program as early as December.

So if you're shutting it down and it's not signed, even if you signed a bill tomorrow, Michael, states will not even be able to be backdated for a couple of weeks. People who need money, it does have a domino effect of not being able to pay rent, not being able to pay for food and even going down the line to what you have mentioned prior. It is a cyclical effect.

HOLMES: Jobless benefits, going to run out for millions. Government funding, lapsing on Monday. That is no small deal. The moratorium on evictions will expire next week. Federal loans for small businesses, aren't going to be revived. Direct payments, of course.

What do you make of the political paralysis in the face of such a real world devastation for so many people?

It is head shaking how the president and other politicians can let this happen.

PATEL: It's funny. You talk about small businesses; when we look at the community, you hold leadership to a high level. We talk about, are you leading the employees, are you doing well for environment?

You talk about leadership from both left, right, Democrats, Republicans, I don't care. This is a failure to the people. And this is not the first time that this is continued to happen. We talk about government shutdown, people who need these benefits in the middle of a pandemic.

We are talking about a possible shutdown is a failure, especially to tie it back to the business example, we have been talking for months that small businesses need these loans and everyone in government was talking about this.

How do you support them?

Now that we are at this deadline, they need these PPP loans and we can't give them.

HOLMES: It is extraordinary. Speak, if you would to the broader impacts of all of this, I know you say the economy is as strong as the people. You are going to have lower consumer confidence, less money to spend and the flow-on impacts to the economy are real.

PATEL: Yes, as you are alluding to, the global impacts is real. I think the stimulus packages is just a Band-aid. So the effects we should have felt just a couple months ago are now, if this package doesn't go, through we will start seeing it.

The eviction notices, the real estate prices, these now all have an impact so consumers don't buy more. Those companies who have furloughed employees stop offering them health benefits. Then, it starts to add up more and more.

Then the whole purpose of the stimulus package is to help people stay afloat so they can get back to their feet. I think that is where the U.S. economy will be back at its strength, when people can get back, in the midst of this pandemic being over.

HOLMES: Real quick, it has taken months to get this far. And now the president, blocking help after the negotiations and the agreement. He could have been involved in this months ago instead of golfing and tweeting.

There is almost an obscene insensitivity to what Americans are going through.

How do you think people are going to react to this?

PATEL: It's funny; this wasn't during the holiday time. And I think people may not have been paying closer attention because many are off. I assure, you when January 1st turns around, Michael, people will be paying attention.

What's the 2021 outlook look like for themselves, for the community and for the global economy?

HOLMES: Indeed. Ryan Patel, appreciate, it good to see you, thank you so much.

PATEL: Thank you Michael.

HOLMES: Now to Nashville, Tennessee, where the pieces may come together in a puzzling act of destruction. Authorities now believe the Christmas morning motor home explosion was likely a suicide bombing.

The powerful blast, injuring three people, causing widespread damage downtown. It could have been a mass casualty tragedy, if the parked RV hadn't been blaring a warning before the blast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you can hear this message, evacuate now. If you can hear this message, evacuate now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Again, authorities now believe this was a likely suicide bombing.

[02:10:00]

HOLMES: That's according to two law enforcement sources. Clues and tips also led them to a home in a Nashville suburb. A photograph, taken last year from Google Street View, appearing to show the RV in question parked outside that home. You can see it there.

Authorities went there Saturday, for what they called court authorized activity. One presumes that's a warrant. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is in Nashville with the latest on these new developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: Authorities here in Nashville, continuing to try to figure out the motive behind the Christmas morning attack. One belief from authorities is that this was a suicide bombing.

But they don't know what led up to the events. They are exploring every theory at this moment, every motive, as they work back and identify the person and also trying to find out the motive.

What caused this person to come here and cause such a massive explosion?

For the last 48 hours, authorities have been going through every piece of evidence, collecting debris from a lot of the destruction. Authorities say some 40 buildings were damaged here. As we know, three people were injured.

But for now, for people here in Nashville, the one thing authorities say is that they should feel safe. Police are not looking for anyone in connection with this bombing and, at this point, they are just trying to get the streets reopened and, hopefully, continue to work this investigation to try and learn a motive -- Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, Nashville, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Joining me now, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, Juliette Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst and former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.

Great to have you on to talk about. This The fact that it's apparently a suicide and there were warnings being given, certainly suggests this was a one-off and not a broader conspiracy.

How did these developments change the investigation? JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: There are a couple factors at play now. Because it was a suicide bombing, presumably, the FBI already knows who it is. They're in the home, they will be able to determine whether this was for private purposes.

In other words, was this a suicide because of a personal vendetta, something to do with his own emotional state without a greater meaning or was this something larger?

That is why people wonder about words such as terrorism. We have no evidence to suggest what the motivation is at this stage so it's very important that we use our words accurately.

So this was a suicide explosion at this stage. But we don't know whether his motivations were private or for some ideological purpose. I have great confidence the FBI will figure it out relatively quickly because he will have evidence at his home.

HOLMES: I guess, I suppose a suicide angle does indicate that he wasn't planning other things, that it was broader than what it is.

What will investigators do right now?

I, guess psychological profile?

I guess we can assume, they already know a lot about this man.

KAYYEM: They will take two tracks simultaneously. One, will be, was this part of something bigger, some ideological movement. They will be looking at the internet.

Are there manifestos around the home and who was he in contact with?

I will say that the amount of explosives was significant.

So how did he purchase them?

How did he know how to use them?

Why was he telling people to disperse?

Then there will be the more psychological focus.

Who was he?

Did something happened to him?

How has he been since the pandemic?

Did he lose a job recently?

A wife?

A girlfriend?

We don't know yet. So those two investigations will occur simultaneously. Obviously, the FBI is invested or interested to ensure that it wasn't terrorism. So they will want to exclude that relatively quickly, so that they don't have to wonder where associates are, how was he radicalized and might there be other people planning similar incidents.

We don't know that yet. So that is why the FBI has been relatively quiet on the motivation front.

HOLMES: I guess, until we know the motivation -- and the target clearly, regardless, it was not people or mass casualties that were the target. But it was outside an AT&T facility and there was a sizeable communications outage.

From your standpoint, your knowledge, did we learn anything from this about infrastructure vulnerabilities?

KAYYEM: I will say, we don't know whether the AT&T building, the one that had disruptions everywhere, that have caused disruptions and everything from air travel to sell service, whether it was a target.

And if it was a target, why?

Or whether it was -- the damage that accrued was just incidental to him, to the suicide bomber choosing that street.

[02:15:00]

KAYYEM: So we don't know yet but what we do know -- and I will really praise AT&T. They brought in an emergency crew, almost automatically. They were able to deploy resources throughout the city so that cell service was not automatic but was back up and running.

In particular, things like 9-1-1, airport and airline services and transportation were back up and running. Doesn't mean that they were not disrupted. But when you want to ensure in these cases, is if something bad happens, how quickly can your critical infrastructure get back up?

I have to say, I've been very, very impressed by their capacity to get things back up and running. But I think you are exactly right. The vulnerabilities of our critical infrastructure are exposed in cases like this, especially, the capacity of someone to bring a truck with that many explosives into an urban area.

HOLMES: Exactly. Juliette, always a pleasure, good to see you.

KAYYEM: Thank you very much.

HOLMES: The U.S. is breaking record after record in this coronavirus pandemic. One in 1,000 Americans have died. This is the country's deadliest month so far and it is not over yet. We will be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Welcome back.

Health experts in the U.S. are bracing for yet another surge in cases, just like we saw, after other holidays over the last few months. That is just, of course, the last thing the country needs right now.

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of one in every 1,000 Americans, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. With four days left, December, already, the deadliest month for the U.S. since the pandemic began. More than 63,000 people have died this month, bringing the total number of lives lost to nearly 332,000.

California, the first state to record 2 million coronavirus cases, the director of the Los Angeles Health Department said that on average, one person in the county dies every 10 minutes from COVID-19.

Doctors and nurses, in California, working themselves to exhaustion. Paul Vercammen, with more, from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The war against COVID-19 in California, being waged on two fronts. One in the hospital, with almost 19,000 people hospitalized, 4,000 of those patients, in intensive care units.

That means staffing ramped up, doctors and nurses being called in on their days off, working longer shifts and, literally, expanding the intensive care units, as well as the emergency rooms to accommodate the flood of COVID-19 patients.

Look behind, me testing, extremely important. They tell me here, you can talk all you want about vaccines but you have to keep testing. A daughters dating it had days (ph) where they have tested 11,000 people.

Unsung heroes of the pandemic, the people conducting the testing, on their feet, for lengthy hours, speaking to people in cars who may not have talked to someone for months, crawling those children sometimes, who break out in tears and, of course, comforting each other.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not just about that one person, but it's families that are struggling and mourning and the pain it brings. We definitely have known people who have passed from this pandemic and it's heartbreaking.

We had a coworker who just lost her grandmother last week. A day to mourn and then, right back to work. We have a big task in front of us and we know we just got to keep on going strong right now.

VERCAMMEN: Daniel Lu (ph) and many of his coworkers, also fan out and go to other parts of Los Angeles County, underserved parts, where people may not be getting tested regularly like they should. Sometimes, it's as simple as they don't have transportation to get to a testing site -- reporting from Dodger Stadium, I'm Paul Vercammen, now back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: I want to bring in infectious disease expert and researcher Dr. Ravina Kullar, who is joining us from Los Angeles.

Good to see you again; 2 million vaccine doses, administered in the U.S. so far.

How long will it take for the impact of vaccinations to show up in case numbers?

When are we likely to see the benefit in a community spread sense?

DR. RAVINA KULLAR, EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT: Thank you, Michael, for having me on again. COVID-19 vaccines are very promising. But for any vaccine that newly comes on board, it will take quite a while to see an impact.

The reason why is because there must be a certain percentage of the population that gets vaccinated and for there to be an effect that's seen and to have herd immunity that is developed.

It is not going to be until January, is not going to be February. My prediction is that we won't see a positive impact in cases decreasing until sometime in the summertime. Honestly, I think it is going to get worse before it gets better and that is why we know that other measures, right, now work, such as face masks, physically distancing, not having those mass gatherings.

HOLMES: No time to relax. I guess anyone who wants a vaccine should be able to get one before the middle of the year, they say.

But how important is it that that number, 75 percent, 80 percent get it?

So you get that critical mass number effect so, called herd immunity?

KULLAR: It is so imperative that when you hear you are eligible to get vaccinated, that you get vaccinated. It is going to take every single person to get vaccinated in their tier in order to develop herd immunity.

So it is vital, Michael; we need at least 75 percent herd immunity and at least 75 percent of people have to get vaccinated in order for there to be an impact of these vaccines.

[02:25:00]

KULLAR: We know these vaccines are greater than 90 percent effective and it is going to take time to really show that effectiveness and that decrease in transmission, which, therefore, will impact the overall burden of this virus in the community.

HOLMES: Again, you have one in five hospital ICUs at or overcapacity right now. Of course, staff is a whole other thing. You can add beds but you can't add people.

What happens with a post-Christmas surge of hospitalizations, which people saying could happen?

They say, as we often say, it's not just beds, its staff, the people who man and treat those patients.

KULLAR: I can tell you, Michael, as health care workers, we are extremely overwhelmed. I don't know what it is going to take for the American people to really understand the impact of this virus.

Just as you stated, Michael, one person dies every 10 minutes here in Los Angeles County. We are at 0 percent ICU capacity. There is going to be a surge that we see after the Christmas holiday because over 7 million people traveled during this Christmas holiday at least.

So there seems to be a very limited number of people that are listening. I can tell you, for those individuals who are not taking this virus seriously, I think, unfortunately, it will take them to get the virus or for a loved one to be impacted by the virus for them to, really, understand the burden of this virus.

My fear is that we enter into 2021 -- and it's a very dismal outlook if we don't take, really, some dire measures right now.

HOLMES: Exactly. I see a lot of it in my own community, people feeling, somehow, they will not be impacted.

Really quick, we are nearly out of time, Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted, about he called, lockdowns, which are really restrictions, not full lockdowns. Saying far more than the damage that would be caused by the virus itself.

What goes through your mind when you see the president say things like that?

Without restrictions, the already staggering death toll would be much worse.

KULLAR: That's correct, Michael. It's very concerning to me, as a health care professional, and it's already seen such an impact here with this virus. My concern is that it puts a false sense of security to the American people, thinking that mass gatherings and congregation is OK. Therefore, you don't need a lockdown, you don't need restrictions.

We know, for a fact, that having those universal masks are necessary; having lockdowns, having restrictions put into place to prevent those mass gatherings, to prevent congregation, is vital to decreasing the transmission of this virus.

HOLMES: Ravina Kullar, always good to see you thank you so much for your expertise.

KULLAR: Thank you, Michael.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: We are taking a quick break on the program and when we come back on CNN NEWSROOM, vaccinations begin in the European Union. But getting those shots to people is far from the only obstacle, we will have the details for you when we come back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers in the U.S. and all around the world, I'm Michael Holmes, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Many people, in Nashville, Tennessee, will never forget Christmas 2020. Although, they probably wish they could. Now at least some answers about the Friday morning RV explosion that gouged out part of downtown, which might be forthcoming.

Investigators believe that the blast was likely a suicide bombing. The FBI says there is no indication of any other suspects. Saturday, the case took them to a home, just outside of the city. An RV that may just be the one that exploded was photographed there, just last year.

CNN's Natasha Chen was there when federal agents searched the home. Here's more now from Antioch, Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Federal investigators have been at this property for most of Saturday and left in the early evening after hours of work. The FBI tell us that this was court authorized activity.

First, we saw a bomb technician team come and clear the property, making sure it was safety enter. Then, we saw an evidence team come in and spend hours going in and out of the house. This fence line behind, me surrounding a yard and we did see them go into the yard at a side door.

What we understand they were meticulously going through documenting and photographing, things inside of the house and we did see them take out bags of evidence. Neighbors were very perplexed to see this all going on.

They did tell me that they have seen an RV parked at this property. When we showed them images from Google Street View of this property in years past, where an RV was parked there, they did recognize that one. One neighbor said they saw it here over the summer. Another neighbor saying, it has been parked here as recently as the

last few weeks. The marking of that RV, similar to the one that was involved in the explosion downtown. A law enforcement source tells us, however, they can't be entirely sure because, of course, the one in the explosion was destroyed in the blast -- Natasha Chen, CNN, Antioch, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Now the E.U. was hoping to have its first coronavirus vaccinations on Sunday. In, fact some countries were able to start one day early. Slovakia, among those who began vaccinating ahead of schedule.

A member of the country's pandemic commission, becoming the first there to get the Pfizer BioNTech shot. Germany, also, kicking off its vaccination program on Saturday. France and others, will start shortly as planned

Barbie Nadeau is joining us from Rome, as well as Atika Shubert in Valencia, Spain.

Let's start with you, Barbie; Italy was the first coronavirus epicenter outside of China. So it's an important day for the country, as the numbers there get worse.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right. In so many ways, we have come full circle now. While it is largely symbolic, the early 9,750 vaccines in Italy, right now the rest will arrive on Monday and they will start the full-fledged, country wide vaccination program.

[02:35:00]

NADEAU: This is so important for this country which, as you said, was the original epicenter outside of China. The people in this country, going under lockdown, were under lockdown over the Christmas holiday. They were under lockdown for four days, completely red zone across the country, as this vaccination process as it begins.

As you said it was so important for Italians to see this glimmer of hope, as the vaccination process begins.

HOLMES: Real quick, it comes across against the backdrop of Italy now having more deaths in this wave than the first, which was so terrible.

NADEAU: That is absolutely right. More than 71,000 people lost their lives in this country right now, more than half of those happening in the second wave. Italy, largely untouched over the summer, the case numbers were down, the deaths in the single digits.

But then in the fall, like so many other places across Europe, the second wave has been so much worse than the first -- Michael.

HOLMES: Barbie Nadeau in Rome, appreciate that, thank you so much.

I want to go now to Atika Shubert, who is standing by in Valencia, Spain.

What are the rollout plans, there what are you expecting to see?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The first doses actually arrived late Christmas night with a police escort for security. They will begin with the rollout plan in Guadalajara, where the first patients will be vaccinated.

That is in the center of Spain. Then we will see other rollouts happening in 17 autonomous communities here in Spain.

Now the plan is to try and get as many people vaccinated in the next 12 weeks. So every week Spain will get 350,000 doses of the vaccine. In the next 12 weeks it will get more than 4.5 million.

The hope is that they will be able to vaccinate more than 2.2 million people in that time. It is a staggering effort, it's really, the largest vaccination program the country has ever attempted. Certainly, the quickest rollout.

The focus will be on the elderly, especially those in care homes, those who also get extra support in care homes, because they really suffered the most at the peak of the pandemic.

The other focus will be on getting the vaccine to medical frontline workers and health and sanitation workers. They have all been equally distributed across the different communities here in Spain, largely based on the population but also, depending on the number of elderly and frontline workers they have.

It's a massive effort and should be starting with the very first patient any minute now -- Michael.

HOLMES: Good news. I want to ask you too, many other countries including Spain are concerned about this new U.K. variant. That has arrived.

What is the concern there?

SHUBERT: Spain has a lot of visitors from the U.K., there's a lot of traffic back and forth, so there was some concern in this new variant popped up on Saturday. The Madrid health authorities confirmed that they had found four cases of the U.K. variant in the city.

And they said, however, the cases didn't seem to be serious. They know that the new variant is more transmissible but in each of these cases that patients did not seem to be suffering any severe conditions of the virus.

The pointed out as well that two of the cases had recently traveled to Britain. So, at the moment it does seem to be contained, Michael.

HOLMES: Good news. Atika Shubert in Valencia, Spain, and Barbie Nadeau in Rome. Appreciate it, thank you for the reporting.

Israel begins another national lockdown on Sunday, as infections surge there. The new lockdown will allow most schools to remain open and people can move about quite freely but only within a kilometer of their home. Restaurants can also remain open for delivery. Now this is the third lockdown for the nation in the last two weeks.

Back in April, CNN was at a coronavirus ICU in Tel Aviv. Earlier this week we returned to that hospital to cover the first day of vaccinations for medical staff. Elliott Gotkine taking us there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It felt like a party. What the dancing doctors and health workers were celebrating was the start of Israel's COVID vaccination campaign. Among them, Dr. Adi Nimrod.

DR. ADI NIMROD, SOURASKY MEDICAL CENTER: It's a very happy day for me today and I think for all, all over the, world, it's a happy day. I hope this is the beginning of the end of the virus.

GOTKINE (voice-over): When CNN's Oren Liebermann visited Dr. Nimrod at the ICU hee in April, Israel was in the throes of its first COVID- 19 wave.

[02:40:00]

GOTKINE (voice-over): The death rate was low back, then, fewer than 200 but the battle against COVID was only just beginning.

NIMROD: The virus taught us to be modest, more humble and a lot of compassion for the situations of families. It is just a virus but not just a virus, it's something much bigger.

GOTKINE (voice-over): Bigger even than Dr. Nimrod may have feared. Since the pandemic struck this country, nearly 380,000 people have come down with COVID. More than 3,000 have died.

NIMROD: Sometimes I felt helpless against this virus. So I really, really pray that this nightmare, medical nightmare, would pass away.

GOTKINE (voice-over): Although cases are back here at more than 3,000 per, day Israelis will be hoping the vaccination campaign will help push those numbers down and that the countries and the world debut (ph) dance with this disease will soon be a thing of the past -- Elliott Gotkine, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A quick break on the program, when we come back, the Georgia Senate runoff election is close, very close. But President Trump's approach to the stimulus bill is complicating things for the Republican candidates. We'll have that, next.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: The U.S. president's decision to not sign the $900 billion stimulus bill is putting Georgia Senate Republican candidates in a tough spot. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, are fighting to keep their Senate seats in runoff elections. They are running as fierce Trump loyalists.

But they supported the stimulus bill that Mr. Trump just rejected. And, mistakes here are high. The results of Georgia's January 5 elections will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

[02:45:00]

HOLMES: Ryan Nobles, with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump, continuing to send mixed signals about the big bill passed by Congress, the one designed to send $900 billion in coronavirus relief to millions of Americans.

That includes $600 in direct payments to most Americans. Really, it is complicating things for the two Republicans running in the Georgia Senate runoff. Both David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, voted for the legislation. The day after it was passed, David Perdue was on the air, in Georgia, with ads bragging that he had delivered coronavirus relief to those who needed it.

The problem is, the bill has yet to be signed into law. So that relief has not yet come. His opponent, Jon Ossoff, is pouncing on that fact. He sent a letter to television stations in Atlanta, saying, they need to take the ad down, because it is false, demonstrably false, because the aid is not on its way. It hasn't been delivered, because the president has yet to sign it into law.

This is just an example of how complicated things have been for these Republican candidates dealing with President Trump's erratic behavior. In addition to the coronavirus relief, the president also vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act something that both Perdue and Loeffler supported.

Of course, he continues to make baseless claims about the way the election in Georgia was conducted in November, claiming there was rampant fraud despite the fact that the Republican officials who ran the election said that there was no fraud, that the president is claiming.

Now these Republicans are in a tight spot, because they need the president and his supporters, to come and vote in a big way. But the president is contradicting them, it seems, at almost every turn -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Still ahead, the rush to build the border wall before the presidency ends, a boon for security or environmental disaster? We'll discuss.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:50:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: The Trump administration is rushing to finish building at least 450 miles of border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border before the end of his presidency. Supporters, of course, applauding that effort. Activists call it a disaster and environmental catastrophe unfolding at the border. CNN's Ed Lavandera reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you want a taste of life on the Arizona-Mexico border, ride shotgun in Kelly Kimbro's 1992 desert-beaten Ford pickup truck.

KELLY KIMBRO, ARIZONA RANCHER: We're not big time ranchers. We have a couple of cattle ranches. We make a living. We love the lifestyle.

LAVANDERA: It's hard to tell where the United States ends and Mexico begins on Kimbro's 800 acres in southeast Arizona

This year, that changed. The Trump administration is carving a 19-mile wall right through this wide open valley.

What's it like to see this massive construction project on your property?

We did not think it was necessary.

LAVANDERA: Construction crews moved in about a year ago. This is what the wall looked like across the San Bernardino Valley in February. This is what it looks like today. Some see it as a long scar.

KIMBRO: And the American taxpayer doesn't see. They hear, build out wall, it's going to secure this country. I promise you, it's never going to secure the country. Not any better than it's already secured.

LAVANDERA: In the final weeks of the Trump presidency, the rush is on to finish building at least 450 miles of the border wall. Customs and Border Protection officials say at least 438 miles of that are now complete.

As the coronavirus pandemic raged this year, border wall construction never stopped. For months, anti-wall activists have documented what they described as an environmental catastrophe unfolding along the southern border, cruise blasting and bulldozing through rugged mountainous terrain. Border Patrol officials say the new walls are vital to patrolling these remote regions.

DANIEL HERNANDEZ, BORDER PATROL AGENT: Good infrastructure buys us more time and gives us the critical seconds and minutes that we need to get to an area. But as of now, a lot has been erected and we're hoping in the future it pays off dividends.

LAVANDERA: The Army Corps of Engineers says eight border wall projects have been finished with crews actively working around the clock on 37 other projects.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good evening, my fellow Americans.

LAVANDERA: The question is, what happens when President-elect Joe Biden takes office? Biden has pledged he would not build another foot of border wall.

BRANDON JUDD, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: There's construction is taking place. It's going to go up this mountain.

LAVANDERA: Brandon Judd leads the National Border Patrol Council. The union has been a vocal ally of President Trump. Judd says it would be foolish for Biden to stop the construction now.

JUDD: You can see that that trench that goes straight up that line, those are the footers, what, you're just going to throw that away?

That just doesn't make any sense because now, you're just throwing money down the -- down the toilet.

KATE SCOTT, ENVIRONMENTALIST ACTIVIST: You can't flat walk in anymore.

LAVANDERA: Halting construction isn't enough for some anti-wall activists.

SCOTT: Take the wall down in the areas that we need it to be taken down right away.

LAVANDERA: We hiked it to this border wall gates stretching the San Pedro river bed in Arizona with environmentalist, Kate Scott. She says, this construction is a deadly threat to wildlife that migrates through this area.

SCOTT: I can tell you, we wake up we cry. We study ourselves and we get to it because it's been so painful for me to witness this monstrosity.

LAVANDERA: But the wall also isn't being built fast enough for Jim Chilton.

JIM CHILTON, ARIZONA RANCHER: The International boundary. Yes.

LAVANDERA: This isn't the kind of wall you want.

CHILTON: No.

LAVANDERA: His ranch fans out across 50,000 acres in Arizona. Chilton is lobbying for a wall on this spot. He says, it's a low priority area because it's so remote, but he does have the ear of the border walls biggest cheerleader.

President Trump put Chilton in the spotlight during a rally last year.

CHILTON: Mr. President, we need a wall.

I offered the federal government 10 acres of land, over here.

[02:55:00]

CHILTON: My private property to have a forward operation base. I offered it for $1 a year. I even told him, I'll give you the dollar. If you can't find one.

LAVANDERA: You've made the border patrol, the federal government an offer that you thought they couldn't refuse.

CHILTON: They said they would study it. That was four years ago.

LAVANDERA: Chilton's Ranch sits between a 25-mile gap and existing border wall and he says it's prime terrain for drug smugglers. He's deployed hidden cameras to capture what he says, are more than 1,000 images of camouflage smugglers marching across his ranch.

CHILTON: My ranch is a no man's land. It's actually controlled by the cartel.

LAVANDERA: Laiken Jordahl has spent the year sounding the alarm about border wall construction in Arizona.

JORDAHL: This wall is purely political theater. It does nothing to actually stop people or drugs from crossing the border.

LAVANDERA: Jordahl drove us around Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a breathtaking National Park in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. The tranquility of the landscape is broken by the sounds of crews building more than 60 miles of wall, part of it through this national park. He calls himself a disaster tour guide.

JORDAHL: They're pulling out all the stops to rush this project through. This is all trash.

LAVANDERA: Jordahl used to work as a U.S. National Park Ranger at the Oregon Pipe National Monument in Arizona. He says, he resigned after President Trump took office.

JORDAHL: It's really an insult for those of us who live down here. We're seeing our communities ripped apart. We're seeing these ecosystems be destroyed. We don't care what you call it. This thing is a disaster. LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, along the Arizona-Mexico border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. Thanks for spending part of your day with us. Kim Brunhuber is here in a moment with more CNN NEWSROOM.