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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump Meets with Lawmakers to Push Election Fraud Claims; Some in WH Fear Final Days as Trump Also Turns to Conspiracists; Trump Meets with Lawmakers to Push Election Fraud Claims; Source on Outside Advisers Influencing Trump: "It's Scary"; Sources: WH Weighing Testing Requirement for Travelers from UK as New COVID Variant Sparks Fears; U.S. Tops 18M Cases; U.S. Tops 18 Million COVID Cases; 20 Million Vaccinations Expected by Year's End may Go into Early 2021. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired December 21, 2020 - 19:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Harvey Zaks of New York was 94. He was a World War II veteran, a civil engineer who worked on hundreds of buildings during his over 60-year career. A truly wonderful man. May they all rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing.

Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next breaking news, the President with a new push to overturn the election. Tonight several members of Congress just leaving a meeting in the Oval Office.

Plus, a new form of coronavirus, one that may be more contagious causing concern tonight. It's impacting holiday travel, a number of countries and airlines are taking action.

And also breaking news, the House moments away now from voting on a long awaited and long overdue coronavirus relief bill.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan in for Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight breaking news, the President holding a meeting with members of Congress at the White House this evening to promote his election fraud conspiracy further. The President's Chief of Staff tweeting moments ago this.

"Several members of Congress just finished a meeting in the Oval Office with President Trump, preparing to fight back against mounting evidence of voter fraud. Stay tuned."

To be clear, there is no such evidence or it would have been presented in court. The President has tried and failed to present any evidence at dozens of court hearings. This is just the latest example of an unraveling situation at the White House, quite frankly. Multiple senior Trump advisors and people close to the President telling CNN, they fear Trump's final days.

One administration official saying very simply, "It's scary." They say the President is no longer governing. Instead, he's focused solely on his futile effort to overturn the election result. He's turned now to a fringe group of advisers peddling increasingly dubious tactics. Advisors like Sidney Powell, who was at the White House again today. That's after she was there last night and Friday.

She's the attorney who has peddled some of the craziest election conspiracy theories, her ideas so out there. Rudy Giuliani, a man not afraid of a conspiracy theory himself. He has even tried to distance her from the Trump campaign legal team.

The President is also apparently listening to Steve Bannon, again. He's pushing Trump to appoint a special counsel to investigate election fraud, widespread fraud, which we know didn't happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: As I strongly recommended to the President, we need a special counsel named immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: He's not an attorney, but he is under federal indictment and he may very well be under consideration for presidential pardon. Here's who does know the standards for appointing special counsel, Bill Barr, who said this today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: If I thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and was appropriate, I would name one but I haven't and I'm not going to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, Bill Barr is leaving the administration this week. He and the President clearly don't see eye to eye on a number of issues anymore. But this is significant, first, the obvious. Bill Barr is the Attorney General of the United States. And second, Barr hasn't been shy in the past to back up some of the President's wild claims, including claims that didn't bear out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can't do the mail- in ballots, because you're going to have tremendous fraud.

BARR: The elections that have been held with mail have found substantial fraud and coercion.

TRUMP: They take them out of mailboxes.

BARR: Those things are delivered into mailboxes. They can be taken out.

TRUMP: They spied on me. They spied on our campaign.

BARR: I think that spying did occur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Attorney General Bill Barr is the Attorney General of the United States. We now know this he has not been backing away from a lot of what the President says, but this is why when you hear this, what he just said today, compared to what he has said in the past, that is why this is so significant that bar is breaking from President Trump. That is why it is so significant in part.

Let's dig into this a little bit more. OUTFRONT now, retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson. He served as Chief of Staff to then Secretary of State Colin Powell. He's also a member of National Task Force of Election Crises. Something we're going to lean on here. Ben Ginsberg is a longtime Republican Election Lawyer. He served as National Counsel to the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000 and 2004. And Julie Pace is the Washington Bureau Chief for the Associated Press.

Col. Wilkerson, if I could start with you. What do you make of what we are hearing from people like Sidney Powell, Steve Bannon and the President's former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, who is now pushing publicly and we are now learning also it was floated in the Oval Office meeting pushing for martial law in order to rerun the election.

[19:05:10]

COL. LAWRENCE WILKERSON, FMR. CHIEF OF STAFF TO COLIN POWELL: I think we're seeing just how desperate Trump is becoming himself. And how desperate the last remaining rats on the ship, if you will, are becoming because of that. We see Bannon apparently coming back on scene again, probably most ardently seeking a pardon. We see things like you just pointed, Gen. Flynn.

I don't know if I were in charge of the military, if I were the chairman or if I were the Secretary of Defense appropriately, I'd probably call Flynn back to active duty and then prosecute him under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. You can take your charge there, incitement insurrection or whatever.

These are desperate people. But I remember something they told values to admonishes staff, both military and state department quiet frequently, don't take counsel of your fears. And I think that's one of the things we need to do now.

We've just been through an election that was monumental. More Americans turned out than any other election since World War II, maybe even before that in terms of percentage. More Americans voted and voted by different methods. States upheld their laws of elder precedents and still upheld their protocols. They did a good job.

Maybe in Kentucky, there is a little cheating. I think the Kentucky race that Mitch McConnell was reelected in against all percentages that pertain beforehand, an exit polling, maybe there's something there. But you never look into the Republicans for cheating and I can say that. I'm a Republican. But I think this election was incredibly well-done, magnificently well

done and we should praise the states and all of the people in the states who did it. And now we need to just spot a council of our fears and understand we're going to get through this at noon on the 20th of January, Joe Biden is going to be the new President of the United States.

BOLDUAN: But before then, Ben, one other thing that we do know is we have reporting that Rudy Giuliani has called over to the Department of Homeland Security to inquire that if DHS could seize voting machines. Bill Barr was asked about that also today, let me play for you what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARR: I see no basis now for seizing machines by the federal government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I see no basis now for seizing the machines by the federal government. What did you think of his answer? Is there a legal basis for any of this we're talking about here?

WILKERSON: I don't think there is.

BEN GINSBERG, REPUBLICAN ELECTION LAWYER: No, I mean I think he gave sort of a political answer. But the truth is there's not authority in the federal government to go seizing a state's voting machines. So it as the colonel said a sign of the desperation.

I suppose if the desperation gets too great, we do have the 25th amendment out there that says the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet can declare the President incapacitated. So there is a failsafe even if it gets really, really crazy.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, I don't know. I guess we're not there yet, Julie. But these conversations, they did happen. That seems to be clear what happened in the Oval Office, Sidney Powell being there now three times in the last few days. Do you have a sense of how serious people are taking these conversations within the White House?

JULIE PACE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Well, I think within the White House, they are taking them with some measure of seriousness, simply because of the seriousness of what we are talking about here. You don't just throw out things like martial law in the Oval Office and just brush it aside.

At the same time, the broader response from the Republican Party, from a lot of people around the President is as it has been for several years, which is essentially to say, well, he won't go there. That even President Trump won't cross that line and they're waiting out the clock, hoping we get to January 20th and Biden is sworn in. And we do have a peaceful transition of power.

But I think the reality is that the President is surrounding himself increasingly with people who are peddling conspiracy theories, who are telling him the things that he wants to hear even though all of the guardrails of this election so far have held up and are pointing toward one obvious thing, which is that Joe Biden won this election and will be sworn in.

BOLDUAN: look, Col. Wilkerson, let me play what the President's former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, not only suggested in an interview last week, but that we now know it was also floated in this Oval Office meeting on Friday, martial law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLYNN: He could order, within the swing states, if he wanted to he could take military capabilities, and he could place them in those states and basically rerun an election in each of those states. It's not unprecedented. These people out there talking about martial law like it's something that we've never done. Martial law has been instituted 64 times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:10:09]

BOLDUAN: Your task force as part of the task force, you all gamed out scenarios of what President Trump might do if he's in the final days, if he had lost the election. When you did this, did you game out invoking martial law?

WILKERSON: We gamed out, if you want to say gaming out is discussing it, because we didn't actually put it on the floor of the game. But we did discuss such moves as that and there were not that many military people consulting the transition integrity project, I happen to be one of them. And it was my advice and my counsel that the United States military would not perform unless it was in the process of a civil action, a revote, an insurrection, something really have an order of magnitude that law enforcement, civilian law enforcement could not handle.

And when Flynn said that about all of those times, I am not sure he's right about 64 times. But when we have had some form of military assistance to law enforcement, something that's referred to by the Latin term posse comitatus, that's essentially what it's been and that's what my advice was. The only way the military would ever (inaudible) anything in this country domestic, would be if law enforcement could not handle it and the military had to back it up.

Much the way in 1992, George H.W. Bush ordered the military in Los Angeles during the riots there with very good guidance from Colin Powell then the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to make sure we maintain an equanimity that was necessary to the use of a military in such circumstance, because then we did and everything turned out OK. I just don't take the military is going to get involved in any way, fashion or form.

BOLDUAN: Ben, we're hearing from Mark Meadows, as I mentioned off the top, that President Trump just met with a group of Republican lawmakers who as Mark Meadows put it are preparing to fight back against mounting evidence of voter fraud. That's what Meadows put out in a tweet.

I can almost feel you rolling your eyes at me, because I know that you have hit on this many times. But what could they possibly have as members of Congress that hasn't been presented and already dismissed in court?

GINSBERG: Well, I think nothing is the truth of the matter. One thing about Bill Barr's announcement today is that it strengthens Mitch McConnell's ability to say to the senators, at least, don't go along with this. Because in point of fact, when the Attorney General of the United States says there's no evidence of fraud, that's something that I think Republican senators will absolutely listen to.

So the long-term significance of what Bill Barr has said today is pretty great. And it goes directly to your question of how much evidence there is. It's also worth pointing out that on the martial law point, martial law may have been imposed in the United States but never to overturn a free and fair election or any election for that matter. So it would be totally unprecedented to use the military for this.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Maybe a small point of context but a crucial one when you're talking about it in the way the way that we are, Ben.

Julie, it's not just kind of all of this. I mean, Trump is also praising the Senator-elect, Tommy Tuberville. This gets a little bit what Ben's talking about here, because he has said that he is open to objecting the election results during the joint session of Congress next week. It's not going to stop Joe Biden from becoming president, but it is clear that President Trump is taking notice, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I spoke to a great gentleman, Tommy Tuberville, last night and he is so excited. He said, "You've made me the most popular politician in the United States." He said, "I can't believe it." He's great, great senator."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Does the President, do you think, Julie, understand this effort as futile?

PACE: Well, I think there are a few things going on. One of them is that the President is being courted by people who are telling him what he wants to hear and people know that this is a way to ingratiate yourself with this president, which is not to tell him hard truths but to validate what he already believes. And so Tuberville is one of those people, Sidney Powell is one of those people. They are essentially feeding the President the information that he wants to be receiving.

I think the President is also showing that he plans to play a pretty active role in the Republican Party going forward. He sees himself as a kingmaker. He sees himself as someone who can continue to help prop up and support Republican candidates who are aligned with his views and philosophies. And so I think you're going to see him do this between now and January 20th. And I think you're going to see him continue to do it afterwards.

[19:15:04]

I do think a big question is how he responds after the 6th of January when, as you say, this effort on Capitol Hill will be futile. What is his next step there? I don't think anybody is really holding their breath for the idea that he will then finally say, OK, it's over. Joe Biden is President-elect, but I think it's a pretty big open question on what follows.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Julie, Ben, Colonel, thank you.

OUTFRONT next we have breaking news, the White House may require travelers from the United Kingdom to present proof of a negative coronavirus test before arriving into the United States as a new and maybe faster spreading form of coronavirus is causing a concern.

Plus, we now know how a critic of Vladimir Putin was poisoned. The victim himself tricked a Russian agent into revealing how the lethal nerve agent was introduced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most risky piece of clothing, which one is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Underpants.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Underpants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And we also have breaking news, a vote coming anytime now on a historic coronavirus rescue package. But has any lawmaker actually read that entire 5,000 plus page document?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:18]

BOLDUAN: And breaking news, the White House is considering requiring travelers from the United Kingdom to show proof of a negative coronavirus test before entering the United States. It comes amid global concern tonight about a new and potentially more contagious variant of the coronavirus hitting the U.K. so hard right now. Dozens of countries are implementing a massive travel crackdown to try to contain the spread.

But the big question tonight for scientists is this variant more dangerous or more resistant to the current vaccines. OUTFRONT now Dr. Jonathan Reiner, he's the Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at GW hospital, an advisor to the White House medical team under President George W. Bush. And Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Dr. Reiner, we know that viruses mutate, but how concerned are you about this variant?

JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think this is something that we need to keep our eye on, but I'm not overly concerned. What we know is that this virus has mutated many times since it was first identified almost exactly a year ago. This particular variant might be associated with more rapid spread of the virus in the United Kingdom and that's still under investigation.

What we also know is that this is still a coronavirus and all of the usual public health measures that are very effective at preventing the spread of this, like wearing masks and social distancing and avoiding crowds and washing your hands, all those work with this virus. And maybe most importantly, there's really no data at all to suggest that this virus is somehow resistant to the new vaccines that are now being widely distributed in the United States and in Europe.

And also the manufacturers of monoclonal antibodies, Regeneron, Eli Lilly today both issued statements expressing confidence that their agents are effective against this variant. So something to keep an eye on, but not something to become overly alarmed about right now.

BOLDUAN: Dr. Jha, in terms of the public health response, I mean, we're seeing dozens of countries halting travel from the U.K., at least temporarily. I want to play for you what New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo said about the fact that there, the lack of a ban on travel to the United States here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D) NEW YORK: Why don't we act intelligently for a change? You have many countries that have just restricted flights from the U.K., many European countries have done it. Why are we doing nothing?

BOLDUAN: Now, I have sources saying that the White House is considering having travelers from the U.K. show proof of a negative test, is that enough? I mean, what do you think of what Cuomo said?

DR. ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: Yes. So thank you for having me on. I think a couple of things first, travel bans can slow down the spread of a virus by a couple of weeks. They're not going to prevent that variant from showing up in the United States. I think the idea of getting a negative test, maybe a bit more useful. But I understand Gov. Cuomo's concern, certainly, it would give us a little bit more time if we put in that travel ban.

But my sense is these variants are probably well-beyond the U.K. already and I would not be surprised if some of it was already here in the United States, if we were testing and looking for it a bit more vigorously.

BOLDUAN: Getting back to the testing question we've talked about now for 10 months. Dr. Reiner, we saw President-elect Biden get his shot today. The first Madonna shots also we're rolling out and happening today, all good signs.

But things are moving slower than Operation Warp Speed had said that they would. They are now saying that the first 20 million Americans will be vaccinated by the first week of January, not by the end of the year, which was kind of the marker they had set originally and the rest of the general public will have a vaccine available to them by June.

Do you think that timeline is now realistic? Do you have concerns about the pace of this?

REINER: I think it's ambitious. My biggest concern is actually not vaccine availability. My biggest concern is vaccine hesitancy. And we really need to spend a lot of time and there's no time to waste on educating the public that this vaccine is safe and extraordinarily effective.

I had a conversation today with a young doc who was very hesitant to accept this vaccine. And I think that this is more widespread than I'd like to see in this country. And also, it varies regionally and it varies shockingly by political party.

[19:25:01]

Eighty-six percent of Democrats say they are likely to get the vaccine. Only 56 percent of Republicans, we need to do much better at breaking down these really ridiculous political barriers to accepting this really fabulous vaccine or fabulous vaccines.

BOLDUAN: With regard to getting back or getting past hesitancy, though, you have to have the availability, right, Dr. Jha? One of the hardest hit states, New Jersey, is now expecting they say 20 percent less of vaccine deliveries for the month of December for the rest of this month than they had anticipated and they're not the only state that has been raising concerns about this. Do you have a sense of what is going on here with this?

JHA: Yes. So I think there are some timelines that are slipping a little bit. As Dr. Reiner said, these are incredibly ambitious goals that Operation Warp Speed has set up. And obviously, I would wish that they hit all of them and maybe even surpass them. But look, instead of end of December, first week of January's like not that much of a slip and the key here is we got to just keep plugging away Moderna and Pfizer.

And I'm hoping that by the end of January, we may have one or two more vaccines. And actually that should really open things up in terms of vaccine availability. But I think we should expect a few hiccups along the way on these timelines.

BOLDUAN: And let's look at just the reality of where the country is at the moment, Dr. Reiner. The United States is surpassing 18 million coronavirus cases tonight. In California, one in 64 residents of L.A. County has the virus right now. That's what health officials said there today, which is quite shocking. Is this where the rest of the country is headed? REINER: Not necessarily. When you look at the United States now,

there are glimmers of hope in certain places. If you look at the Midwest, for instance, the Midwest is starting to show signs of a decline in the number of cases. So I think there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon but we must continue to get this population to mask up. We must limit the size of gatherings and some places may need to close down. We're seeing that in Southern California.

And then as Dr. Jha was saying, we need to move ahead expeditiously with vaccinating large portions of our population as quickly as possible.

BOLDUAN: And Dr. Jha, I mean, the TSA just today said that Sunday broke the pre-pandemic travel record as many as more than a million people pass through TSA checkpoint, security checkpoints for the holidays and that's just Sunday. As someone who's been pushing the message of you've got to make tough choices and we have to be smart and we have to be careful. What do you think when you hear that people are traveling, people are going and this is a holiday that's still - it feels like we're still seeing the fallout from Thanksgiving holiday gatherings and now we're heading into this.

JHA: Yes. Look, first of all, I understand. I mean, people are really tired of this and it's been a long, long pandemic already. And holidays are particularly important time for people to spend time with their family. So I'm sympathetic to what's driving it, but my point on this is we're so close to widespread vaccine availability. This is such a bad time in terms of level of infection, that I've been asking people, pleading with them.

Like it's really tough requests, but hold off on these holidays, so you can be around in 2021 and actually celebrate safely with your family in the new year. But we're so close and people really have to hunker down and just get through the next four to six weeks.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I'll just keep your words in my head for so, so close. Dr. Jha, Dr. Reiner, thank you.

OUTFRONT next, Atty. Gen. Bill Barr breaking with President Trump saying that it appears Russia is behind the massive hack attack. Why is from still refusing to acknowledge Putin as a threat?

And breaking news, lawmakers are about to vote on a federal relief bill, what is in the bill and why it took so long to get here?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:33:05]

BOLDUAN: New tonight, Attorney General Bill Barr is at odds with President Trump on several issues, including the massive cyber attack against the U.S. government.

Barr saying all signs point to Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I agree with Secretary Pompeo's assessment it certainly appears to be Russians, but I'm not going to discuss it beyond that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This is after President Trump down-played the attack over the weekend on Twitter while he also raised that it could have been China, not Russia.

OUTFRONT now is the former director of the CIA under President Obama, John Brennen.

He's also the author of the new book "Undaunted: My Fight Against America's Enemies at Home and Abroad."

Director, thank you for coming in.

What did you think today when you saw Bill Barr very clearly agreeing with Mike Pompeo and other officials this was likely Russia just as Trump was saying it could be China?

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER DIRECTOR, CIA: Well, I was very glad to hear the attorney general speak forthrightly about what the facts are, which is that there's no basis to go forward with these special counsels either because of these claims of election fraud or the Hunter Biden tax investigation. I don't think it's any coincidence that Bill Barr is finding his intestinal fortitude and spine just in the days before he departs from office.

But, again, it's better late than never. And I think even Bill Barr realizes that there's no way that these calls can be justified. So, he is going to be speaking out and I'm sure he's irritated Donald Trump immensely.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, we'll wait for the -- we'll wait for the follow-up tweet from that one from the president for sure. But with this, it's pretty interesting. It really crystallizes Donald Trump is ending his presidency really in the same place as he began it, incapable or unwilling to confront Russian aggression. And of course it started with Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Just here's a reminder.

[19:35:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's probably not Russia. Nobody knows if it's Russia.

I mean, it could be Russia but it also could be China. It could also be lots of other people. It could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay?

You know, they talk about Russia. They're so worried about Russia. What about sending out 80 million ballots? That's your real problem.

I think probably China at this point is a nation that you should be talking about much more so than Russia because the things that China's doing are far worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This has really been a hallmark of his presidency. It's a question that has befuddled so many, but in these final days, have you ever been able to understand why?

BRENNAN: No. It's interesting because the words he just spoke when you provided the footage they're almost exactly the same words he spoke in early January of 2017 when myself and Jim Comey and Jim Clapper briefed him on the Russian interference in the election. He kept pushing back against that. He refuses to accept reality.

I think it's because he doesn't see Russia as a threat to him personally. In fact, I think he realizes Russia has helped him prior to the 2016 election and even afterward which is why he's given them a pass.

I must also say that the most dangerous times for an autocrat in terms of what they might do is when they are seeking power as well as when they're on the verge of being deposed from power. That's what I think we see right now with Donald Trump. He's clearly frightened with what's ahead of him when he departs from the White House.

He knows what he's done wrong throughout the course of his life, either during his time at the White House or prior that. And I think he's very, very frightened at the prospect of being a private citizen and subject to whatever might be coming his way from the standpoint of legal challenges or whatever.

But again, he's clearly a desperate person grasping at a wicker straw and, unfortunately, he's found some people who are willing support these very, very specious claims of widespread fraud.

BOLDUAN: On the cyber attack, from an intelligence standpoint I'm curious the fact we don't know it's still going on, and it's a week later. And we still don't know the extent of the damage. That is just kind of shocking to me. Does that surprise you?

BRENNAN: Well, I can see why it would be shocking to many. But when you think about the digital environment and all of the government networks and systems, and computer systems that are in place in different departments and agencies and how broadly this malware could have spread to not just in the government but even outside I think there's still a lot of damage assessments that's going on.

And that's what I think the cyber professionals have to do first and foremost is to find out exactly where the Russians, if the Russians were behind us -- it clearly looks to me that they were -- where they access? What type of information did they extract and have access to? How can they mitigate this damage? And also find out whether or not the Russians had some type of human sources that enabled them to get this malware into the systems?

So it's mind-numbing in terms of just the complexity of this digital environment and the cyber domain.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, finally, I want to get your reaction to some remarkable reporting from my colleague Clarissa Ward and her team. A member of an elite toxins and Russia's FSB security service revealed to the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, how the lethal nerve agent that was used was planted in Navalny's underwear over the summer. This agent admitted this in the phone call with Navalny as he was -- who was posing as a Russian government official.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, imagine underpants and in what place?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The insides, the groin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The crotch of the underpants?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the so-called flap. There are some seams there, so across the seams.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I mean, as strange as it is, Russia is unbelievable. I mean, Russia's denied involvement of poisoning, called this conversation fake. But what do you think of this?

BRENNAN: Well, I think there's been ample evidence in the past about the Russian FSB, which is their internal security service, taking such actions against political activists in Russia as a way to either stifle their voice or eliminate them from the political scene. And, unfortunately, what Mr. Navalny was subjected to is similar to what others have been. And it's clear that the Russians under Vladimir Putin do not allow individuals such as Mr. Navalny to be able to operate and to engage in political activities that they see as detrimental to Putin's reign.

BOLDUAN: Director, thanks for coming on.

BRENNAN: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT next, big breaking news. A vote expected any time on a wide-ranging $900 billion COVID relief bill, but some lawmakers -- they're complaining they haven't even had time to read it yet.

And what it means to have Kamala Harris and Ivanka Trump on the campaign trail in Georgia today ahead of the runoff election. Could the stakes be any higher?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: This will not be easy. And it is within our power to change the course of the history of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Breaking news, Congress in the process right now of getting votes on one of the largest rescue packages in U.S. history, $900 billion in coronavirus relief funds that millions of Americans have been waiting for months to see. But after so many months of failure as the recovery has stalled is this really a success?

Phil Mattingly OUTFRONT.

Phil, what's in the deal? Because there is a lot. And what is going to happen tonight?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I'll start with the latter part first. This is going to pass, and right now as you noted the house is in the process of the first two votes on this package and they'll kick it over to the Senate. But House Republican leadership, Democratic leadership, Senate Republican leadership, Senate Democratic leadership, the White House all say they're in support of this.

This package will pass, and as you noted it's extremely large of it's just not $900 billion for COVID relief.

[19:45:02]

It's also $1.4 trillion in spending. A lot of other add-ons as The Congress at the end of the year like to tack a lot of things on.

I think the most important piece obviously is COVID relief. The question, is it enough? I don't know it necessarily is depending on your circumstance.

But here's what it will do -- if you're an individual that makes under $99,000, you will get a stimulus check. It will be $600, half of what the original CARES Act had, but dependents will get $600 as well. So, you have children, you get your $600 check and $600 checks for your independents as well.

Small businesses which have been absolutely crushed by the pandemic particularly service industries, restaurants. There's another round of paycheck protection program money going out, about $284 billion for that program. About $320 billion total for small businesses altogether.

And also eviction moratorium, that will be extended for a month as well.

And one thing to keep an eye on, I think is probably the most important thing. The stimulus checks, Kate, that's what everybody likes to talk about. Everybody obviously wants those checks, needs those checks. But it's the unemployment programs that are most important right now. December 26th, two of the biggest unemployment programs from the CARES

Act, the original stimulus bill, were set to expire. Thirteen million people were going to fall off unemployment aid. Those will now both be extended. A plus of another 11 weeks for federal unemployment benefits and then also an additional $300 million benefit on the federal side as well.

So, there is money coming out. There is help coming out, and the question is, if it's enough given what the economy is facing, but it's something. I think that matters at least a little bit, Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. Let me bring in right now Republican congressman from Utah, John Curtis.

Congressman, thanks for coming in.

Do you consider -- Phil laid out what was in the package. Do you consider this is a success? Do you think this is enough? How are you voting?

REP. JOHN CURTIS (R-UTA): Well, I think one question is, is it enough? But more question is, is it too late? We know Americans and individual businesses have waited way too long and Congress frankly is at the height of dysfunction, not only on this but on the budget we'll be voting on tonight.

BOLDUAN: I tell you. Sadly, I've heard that from Democrats as well, thinking this is failure, you cannot call it a success, even though it is needed. You -- there is -- there's a lot of money in this. It's $900 billion.

But when you look at this part of the negotiation led to no money in here for state and local governments, though they have been begging for it as I know you know. I mean, they're saying tonight that police, firefighters and other essential workers are going to be losing their jobs because of the toll the pandemic has had on their budgets, on their localities.

You're a former mayor. What do you say to them tonight?

CURTIS: Well, there's two sides to this debate. I think one that rarely gets brought up is cities, counties and states are taxing authorities. And it surprised me a little bit that all of the pressure has been on Congress to move forward and incur debt that we don't have, and states also have the same taxing authority. And I think in many ways, it's a mistake to look to one federal government to solve all the problems across the United States.

There's a number of cities that are actually doing fine. There's a number of states that are doing okay. And so, this one-size-fits-all answer across the United States is very, very difficult to do.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, I think that's interesting because the conference of mayors, they're livid over this. I know you've seen the statements coming out. You got the vaccine over the weekend. Now you have -- there's a

picture of it as you posted it -- a lot of other members of Congress have as well.

Now, Chris Sununu, the Republican governor of New Hampshire, he's calling you and, well, all members of Congress out for what he is considering you jumping the line ahead of first responders and the elderly to get the vaccine.

Let me play for you how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: Everyone one of those vials that is being used for a congressman and senator that has been doing nothing and hasn't been on the front lines is another vial of vaccine that isn't going to a nurse or to a resident of a long-term care facility. We're on the verge of a shutdown right now and they're getting in line for a vaccine when they've actually done nothing for the last eight months.

So, I think I'm trying to express I think what most people feel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Congressman, what do you say to the governor and others who don't think it's fair?

CURTIS: Well, I understand. Trust me. I had some thoughts of that myself.

At the same time, we know there's upwards of 40 percent to 50 percent of the population of the United States who are hesitant to take this vaccine. And I feel like Congress has got to play a role in building confidence in this.

And I think that's why -- I know that's why I stepped forward and my colleagues did. And let me add to that, all along, we've been asked to follow the advice of our scientific leaders and medical leaders. We were asked to take this by the House physician.

That's something I don't take lightly, and that along with a desire to be an example and show people that I have confidence in this vaccine.

[19:50:03]

I think it's a very, very important role for us.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, you were one of the first Republicans in Congress to acknowledge Joe Biden's victory. Several of your colleagues including just one I know we have confirmed is Mo Brooks met with President Trump tonight and according to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, that they are, quote -- and this is how he put it -- preparing to fight back against mounting evidence of voter fraud. Stay tuned.

What do you say to that?

CURTIS: Well, I love this country, I love our Constitution. I love our form of governments.

I'm here to predict that all will go well, that we'll have these bursts and these statements but I have so much confidence in the electoral process, in our judges, in our military. I'm here to say that the transition will go well. And I am looking forward to taking President-elect Biden up on his word that he wants to be president for everybody.

We've got needs in Utah. And I'm ready to go to work and roll my sleeves until we can work with, him and get these things done.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, thank you for your time.

OUTFRONT for us next, the runoff campaigns in Georgia. The Senate races in the home stretch tonight, one big name on the trail today? Kamala Harris. Hear her message.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:55:28]

BOLDUAN: Tonight, dueling rallies in Georgia featuring high-profile surrogates.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and also President Trump's daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, both campaigning and state for the final stretch of the crucial runoff elections. Harris making her first trip to Georgia to campaign for the Senate Democratic candidates and laying out in stark terms what is at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Everything is at stake! This will not be easy. And it's within our power to change the course of the history of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT now is Astead Herndon, "New York Times" national political reporter, CNN political analyst. He's been on the ground in Georgia, covering the races.

It's good to see you.

So, Kamala Harris and Ivanka Trump both there. What do you think the impact is of these visits at this point of the race? What did you hear today?

ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. I mean, we know this is going to be a race that comes down to respective turnout of the bases. Both the Democratic and Republican sides are really just focusing on getting their voters again, and let some on the kind of persuasion tactics. And so, what we have here are is kind of two big surrogates who are

meant to juice up the turnout. Kamala Harris was out in Columbus, Georgia, which is one of the cities that Democrats outperformed and outside of the Atlanta region but was a place for Biden saw real support, and there are -- and that's a place where they think they need to replicate what he was able to do at the top of the ticket November.

Ivanka Trump was in the suburbs. She was in the Atlanta region where Democrats have seen big losses and she was trying to tout the administration's economic accomplishments and the like. But this was a base that still motivated by Trump. The Republican candidates were shut down by chants of "stop the steal" and "fight for Trump". That just shows where the base is at the moment.

They're not looking for that forward-looking message. They're not even looking for a message that says, vote for these people to stop President Biden. They are not ready to acknowledge the reality of the incoming Democratic administration.

BURNETT: Let me actually play the moment that you are talking about because you are at the Ivanka Trump event earlier today and this is yet another reminder of the state of things. I mean, you have Senator Kelly Loeffler addressing the crowd, trying to get them to turn out to vote for her and then this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-GA): That is what we are fighting for. We are fighting for him every --

CROWD: Fight for Trump. Fight for Trump.

LOEFFLER: That's right. That's right.

CROWD: Fight for Trump.

LOEFFLER: The original outsider in Washington fighting every single day.

CROWD: Stop the steal. Stop the steal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I mean, she's drowned out and was forced to stop in the middle of her remarks, because they are more focused on the presidential race of the past, and Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud and not her upcoming Senate race.

I mean, what do you think all of this actually ends up meaning for Kelly Loeffler?

HERNDON: Yeah, I mean, it is a challenge for those Republican candidates and it's a reminder that the base is holding them accountable for how they see their advocacy for President Trump's attempts -- even as we see the White House go further and further down the path of disinformation, of conspiracy, of these kind of an evidenced claims of voter fraud.

They are tracking the Republican senators to say that they should speak up more and more in advocacy for the president. We know that the president has already fought with the Georgia Republican governor because he followed the election rules. We already know how he's fought with the Georgia secretary of state.

That is a reminder for the Republican candidates that if they don't toe close enough to the line, this base is now going to come out. I talked to a woman after the rally who says, oh, Republicans are going to vote but I'm MAGA, and I don't know if I'm going to.

That saying, their loyalty is to the president and they are judging the senators about how close they toe that line.

BOLDUAN: Well, and it gets to this. How do you have the two thoughts in your head at the same, Astead, of stop the steal if they believe the conspiracy theory that votes were stolen and that the election was stolen.

How are they going to trust that their vote is going to count for Kelly Loeffler or David Perdue?

HERNDON: I mean, absolutely. Obviously, this is not a logic based exercise of the party. This is something that's totally without evidence.

And it's also kind of difficult to talk to voters at these events. They are so steeped in this language of misinformation. They're so completely ingrained in the universe that's not based in evidence or reality, that it is one where you can even get to that point to ask about what you're going to, do and do you trust the results on January 25th.

What we are hearing now is that they are saying we're going to vote as a contingency plan. You had Ivanka Trump say today that Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are doing everything they can to make sure that the next election is safe. That's what they're trying to do. It's projected to the next election until the vote is to come out anyway.

BOLDUAN: Astead, glad you're on the ground. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

Thank you all so much for joining me tonight.

"AC360" starts now.