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Biden: Trump Admin's Plan To Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines Is Falling Far Behind; HHS: Almost 20 Million Vaccine Doses Allocated To States But Only 11 Million Distributed And 2.1 Million Administered; McConnell Moves To Put "Poison Pill" Direct Payments Bill Onto Senate Calendar; Interview With Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL); CA Extends Stay-At- Home Orders As State Prepares For "Crisis Care"; GOP Senators In GA Runoff Side With Trump On $2,000 Checks; Some Congressional Staffers To Get COVID-19 Vaccinations. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 29, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @jaketapper. You can tweet the show with @theleadcnn.

Our coverage on CNN continues right now. I'll see you tomorrow.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer resolve today. I'm Jim Acosta in THE SITUATION ROOM and we're following breaking news.

President Trump increasing pressure on Senate Republicans to raise stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000, demanding in a tweet that they do so, unless they "have a death wish." That came shortly after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked an effort by Democrats to approve the additional money.

Also breaking, President-elect Joe Biden a short time ago criticizing the Trump administration's rollout of coronavirus vaccines, and calling for a vast new effort. That as the Health and Human Services Department just revealed its allocated almost 20 million vaccine doses to states with just over 11 million distributed. But get this, only 2.1 million administered.

Let's begin with the escalating tension between the President and Republican lawmakers. CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins is in West Palm Beach where the President is spending the holiday.

Kaitlan, Mr. Trump is clearly not used to having congressional Republicans, refused to do his bidding is that's what's happening.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, Jim, he's not. And he's lashing out as a response saying that it is going to be a death wish if Senate Republicans do not change their ways and meet his demands for these bigger stimulus checks.

But whether or not they're actually going to follow through with that, even though more of them are supporting it is still unclear because of course, it all lies in the hands of the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who we heard from earlier today, but did not lay out any kind of a timeline for when he's going to bring what the President wants to see for a vote on the Senate floor.

Though we now do have indications that he is going to include the other presidents other demands in this request for those higher stimulus checks, those $2,000 stimulus checks. And Jim, of course, that is not something that we know Democrats would support. So basically, all of the fate of this is in limbo right now as the President is continuing to lash out.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): Tonight, Republican senators are feeling the heat from the very top.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): We didn't expect to be in session this week, but we are.

COLLINS: President Trump now says "Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve $2,000 payments ASAP, $600 is not enough." That tweet is forcing Senate Republicans to decide between defying the President or getting behind bigger stimulus checks, which many in the GOP initially resisted, but a growing number are now supporting. That includes David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, two Republicans just days away from a heated Senate run off in Georgia who both sided with the President today.

SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-GA): I've said absolutely, we need to get relief to Americans now and I will support that.

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): I fully support what the President is doing right now.

COLLINS: The fate of the stimulus checks is now in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's hands who offered no clarity today but blocked an effort by Democrats to vote on it immediately.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: This week, the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus.

COLLINS: Democrats are eager to take advantage of the Republican Family Feud.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: There's one question left today, do Senate Republicans join with the rest of America in supporting $2,000 checks? Now some of my Republican colleagues have said they support the checks. But there's a major difference in saying you support $2,000 checks and fighting to put them into law.

COLLINS: Senator Bernie Sanders is vowing to hold up a vote to override Trump's veto of the massive military bill unless they vote on the $2,000 checks. And his frustration spilled out on the Senate floor today.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Do we turn our backs on struggling working families? Or do we respond to their pain?

COLLINS: McConnell said the Senate will vote on whether to override Trump's veto of the defense bill tomorrow, potentially setting the GOP up for its first major rebuke of the President during his last days in office.

MCCONNELL: Failure is simply not an option. I would urge my colleagues to support this legislation one more time when we vote tomorrow.

COLLINS: The House passed an override of Trump's veto on Monday causing him to lash out on Twitter today, saying, "Weak and tired Republican leadership will allow the bad defense bill to pass. A disgraceful act of cowardice and total submission by weak people to big tech.

With the stakes in Washington higher than ever and the financial stability of millions of Americans on the line, the President spin today like he has many others in Palm Beach on the golf course.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: Now, Jim, while the President has been here he has clearly been frustrated over pretty much everything from what's going on in the Senate, even renovations that have happened at his Mar-a-Lago club here in Florida over the last several months. But of course, what we know from sources is at the center of all of this is that election loss and the President still dealing with the aftermath of it and refusing to publicly accept it, and lashing out at Republicans and other members of his party who do so.

[17:05:19]

ACOSTA: It is the cloud that hangs over him at all times.

All right. CNN Kaitlan Collins, thank you very much for that.

Let's get more on the breaking news from Capitol Hill with CNN Congressional Correspondent Phil Mattingly.

Phil, let's start with the $2,000 stimulus check bill. What kind of pressure is Mitch McConnell under right now? He didn't seem like he was sweating things too much. And what are his options?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, he's got a complicated balancing act. There's no question about it. Not only do you have President Trump who still enjoys the faith and support of the vast majority of the Republican Party, pressuring him on Twitter and otherwise. And he's also got two Republican senators that could dictate -- determine whether or not he's majority leader in the next Congress that are up for reelection right now in run offs. They both support the $2,000 stimulus checks.

Here's where McConnell sits at this point in time. Just a short while ago, McConnell introduced his own legislation, it would include those $2,000 checks, but would also include the two other demands President Trump made in exchange for signing the original COVID relief package. That is a repeal of those online liability protections known as Section 230. As well as a commission to study voter fraud on which there is no evidence exists up to this point, but has been a major issue for the President.

What this bill would do is essentially give McConnell an option, an option beyond just the house version of the bill that passed with some Republican support that is just a straight vote on $2,000 stimulus checks.

There's also another wild card here that's going on right now, Jim. And that is the fact that while five Republican senators, including those two Georgia Republicans have said they support the $2,000 checks, that leaves 47 who aren't saying anything related to it at all. And the vast majority of them, I'm told, do not support the idea, are opposed to it on fiscal grounds. That's what McConnell is attempting to balance right now. And that's where another factor comes into play.

Jim, you know this quite well, this Congress, the 116th Congress, it comes to an end on Sunday. They still have to process the National Defense Authorization Act, veto override. The clock is ticking. And it is very possible that the clock just runs out before they have a chance to address this based on how McConnell's operating right now.

ACOSTA: And Phil, you were just mentioning that defense bill, when it comes to that McConnell is breaking with the President again. Is he trying to provoke the President?

MATTINGLY: You know what, I think what's most interesting when you watch Mitch McConnell, watch Majority Leader over the course of the last four years, obviously he's not been very publicly critical of the President. If there's one issue or one area where he's been willing to book (ph) the President, rarely by name, but at least on the subject matter itself. It's on foreign policy and defense. And I think that goes for a lot of Republicans. And definitely that is the case with the National Defense Authorization Act.

Mitch McConnell has made very clear, if the president vetoed that bill, the Senate would move quickly to override that veto. Eighty-four senators voted in favor of the NDA. Again, it has been passed and signed into law by large bipartisan margins for 59 consecutive years. This would be the 60th.

The President vetoed it. The House overrode that veto easily yesterday, the Senate will do the same and it will be another big vote is what I'm hearing at this point in time. McConnell's made no bones about it.

This defense policy bill is extremely important to national security in his view. Many Republicans share that view and they're willing to rebuke the President in a pretty significant manner in order to ensure it gets put into law, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. The sausage making is getting very 2020.

All right, CNN's Phil Mattingly thank you for that. In a hard-hitting speech about an hour ago President-elect Joe Biden slammed the Trump administration's plan to distribute the Coronavirus vaccines. Warning is falling far behind.

Let's go to CNN Political Correspondent M.J. Lee in Wilmington, Delaware.

M.J., this is quite concerning. President-elect Biden says at the current pace of vaccinations, it will be years, not months to vaccinate the American people.

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Just another reminder of how much is riding on the successful distribution of this vaccine.

And Biden essentially said today, Donald Trump is not getting the job done. He said look, the numbers speak for themselves. At this point in the year many, many more Americans should have already been vaccinated. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Trump administration's plan is to be vaccines is falling behind, far behind. We're grateful to the companies, the doctors, the scientists, the researchers, the clinical trial participants and Operation Warp Speed for developing the vaccines quickly.

But as I long feared and worn, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should. A few weeks ago, Trump administration suggests that 20 million Americans could be vaccinated by the end of December. With only a few days left in December, we've only vaccinate a few million so far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Now Biden is proposing basically a much more aggressive federal plan to get people vaccinated. He essentially said people should be getting vaccinated five to six times faster than they are right now.

[17:10:06]

A couple other things that he talked about in this first 100 days plan, he talked about setting up mobile sites and bringing those in, particularly to communities that are hard to reach, doing a public campaign nationwide to try to convince people who are wary of the vaccine actually being saved to try to convince people that they have to get vaccinated.

He also, of course, talked about this mass mandate that he has talked about before that essentially the first 100 days that he is in office, he wants everybody across America to be wearing a mask. And interestingly, he also talked about how he is prepared to do anything moving heaven and earth to get all of this done. But it was very clear that he was not going to undersell just what a daunting task this is. He said this is going to be the greatest operational challenge that the country has faced. Jim.

ACOSTA: OK, M.J., let's standby. We want to bring back my White House colleague, Kaitlan Collins, along with Ryan Lizza, who is Politico's Chief Washington Correspondent.

Ryan, let me start with you first. Let's not forget, President Trump still has not conceded the election. So we have all of that going on. But when it comes to the pandemic, and vaccines, these are life or death issues. Do you think this pressure from Joe Biden will make a difference? Light a fire under the Trump administration to speed up the rollout of these vaccines?

RYAN LIZZA, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: No, I don't think it will. I don't think the Trump administration, certainly not President Trump is listening to Joe Biden on this issue whether he's right or he's wrong. And he's certainly right, that the goal for December is off by a huge amount.

In just in terms of the politics of this, I, you know, this is the number one issue for the Biden -- incoming Biden administration, COVID crisis is clearly why Joe Biden is going to be president. And it's something that by the end of his first year or sooner, he needs to be able to say that he solved it.

So, you know, talking about how big a deal it is, the gravity of it, how difficult it's going to be, is better, of course, than talking about how it's going to be an easy lift. And, you know, and raising expectations too much.

I'm not saying this is all a political speech, he's 100 percent correct that the vaccine distribution is proceeding much slower than the Trump administration promised. But I think you're starting to see Biden realize he's going to be in charge of all of this very soon. And he wants to sort of set the groundwork for what he's inheriting.

ACOSTA: And Kaitlan, the Trump administration's strategy was to push a lot of issues in this pandemic onto the states. We remember how testing was essentially a state problem early on in the Trump administration's response to the pandemic.

Now we're seeing a struggle with this vaccine rollout. And it's clearly a struggle at this point if you look at the numbers. Do you think we should have seen this one coming?

COLLINS: Well, certainly, because you saw the issues that we had had not only with testing, but also with PPE and the matters that they faced where you often did see the federal government push it off to states. And what we've heard from states and local leaders is that you're basically pushed to their limits before they were even in charge of distributing the vaccine to people. That had to do with testing, with contact tracing, with social distancing measures, and what they were doing around the state when it came to restaurants and businesses, and schools.

And now they're also in charge of vaccine distribution. And of course, one of the things that they've talked about is the need more for more funding if they are going to be also in charge of that.

And so I think with the vaccine distribution, we have heard a lot of over promising from the administration on this. And now, you know, they set these limits, these incredibly ambitious limits for the end of December, and we are only days away from the end of the month and they're nowhere near close to meeting them yet.

And so I think that's something that is giving pause for concern for people even inside the White House. But it is a similar pattern to what you saw happen with back in March, when we were being assured that anyone who wanted a test could get a test. And of course, that wasn't the case.

And they also said that hospitals had all the PPE that they needed when we were actually hearing from people on the ground saying that's just not the case. And so, of course, vaccine distribution is incredibly important, incredibly sensitive thing for people to handle. And I think that if it's not going the way that they had said, you know, at least the administration could be transparent about that. And we are not getting those daily briefings like we had been in the earlier phases of this pandemic.

ACOSTA: No, we're certainly not. And let's hear that graphic again one more time, and I'll talk to you about this M.J. I mean, this is extraordinary.

COVID-19 vaccine delivery here in terms of what the administration has put out. Allocated not a confirm shipment, 19.88 million doses, that's according to the Department of Health and Human Services. But only 2.1 million doses administered as in going into people's arms. This is what Joe Biden was talking about earlier today.

And I think, to some extent as Ryan was saying, M.J., the President- elect wants to make sure the public understands that this problem started under Donald Trump's watch.

[17:15:10]

LEE: That's absolutely right. You know, there are not many issues that Joe Biden has been more critical of Trump on than COVID-19. And I think we just saw the latest iteration of that. He knows just how important and how much is at stake and having a successful vaccine distribution. We heard him saying there, it could be the difference between taking months versus years to really round the corner on this virus.

I think there's an interesting point to raise here about whether president -- whether President-elect Joe Biden actually personally blames the sitting president for how bad things have gotten in the United States. I think it's clear that he does put a lot of blame on President Trump personally.

It was interesting if you listen to the speech carefully this afternoon, he ticked through a number of folks and entities that he was thankful for. He thanked the vaccine companies, he thanked doctors, researchers, people who took part in the early vaccine trials and other experts who have just been involved in making sure that this vaccine was produced.

And he did think briefly and congratulated President Trump for signing that COVID relief package. But then later in the speech, when he was talking about President Trump more in depth, he said, boy, I sure wish that he would go out there and encourage every American to put on a mask because that certainly would make a difference. Maybe he could follow in Chris Christie's footsteps.

He also said that he hopes that President Trump would urge every American to get the vaccine because that could make a difference too.

So clearly, there are two things at play here, right? Joe Biden talking about the administration's failings at distributing this vaccine quickly enough. And then just the personal conduct side of things that he believes that President Trump could have been doing more, much, much more to try to get people vaccinated and to be acting responsibly throughout this pandemic.

ACOSTA: OK, great insights. All of you, thank you so much for that. The breaking news continues.

Next, I'll ask the number two Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, about the push to force a vote on $2,000 stimulus payments. Where is that going? People are waiting for that money. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:06]

ACOSTA: We're following breaking news. A new twist in the fight to increase pandemic stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 as President Trump increases pressure on congressional Republicans. Let's get more on all of this with the Senate Minority Whip, Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Senator Durbin, thanks for joining us.

The Senate Majority Leader as you know is combining the $2,000 checks with President Trump's pet issues of revoking Section 230, which provides protection to social media companies is something he's been harping on for months in a committee to study the integrity of the 2020 election, even though his own administration had a voter fraud task force that didn't come up with any evidence of widespread voter fraud. What does this mean for Americans chances of getting bigger checks?

People sitting at home right now wondering, you know, is $600 going to be enough? Many people think it's not going to be enough. What does all this mean for American chances of seeing those bigger checks?

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Jim, the bill that passed the House is $2,000 for each adult and child. Family of four, $8,000. That's a game changer for most American families, particularly those that are struggling in this economy.

Now, let's get down to the basics here. The bill that passed the House of Representatives guaranteed $2,000 per person. It's on the desk of Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate.

And what is he saying, I want to throw a few poison pills in there. See if I can discourage people from voting for this. Let me throw in a reform of the internet while we're at it here. Let's do some work here and investigate the last election.

For goodness sakes stop looking for poison pills, Senator McConnell. Pass this right now. America needs it.

ACOSTA: And President Trump says that "Unless Republicans have a death wish they must approve the $2,000 payments ASAP." He tweeted this earlier today. Is he helping or hurting this effort at this point?

DURBIN: Well, he created the force behind $2,000. A lot of people were talking about 1,200 and such. So let's give him credit for that.

But then when it came to delivering votes for it, he can't do anything in the Senate. Look, he's got two Republican candidates for Senate in Georgia who said there for this, while the Senate Republican leader is trying to kill it, stop it, slow it down. It's just inconsistent.

The American people can see through this right away. The bill that passed the house should be called on the floor of the Senate tomorrow and passed, the President signs it, period.

ACOSTA: And you and your colleagues are stuck here in Washington, I suppose, during all of this until this gets resolved one way or the other. Even if Senator McConnell were to allow a straight vote on these stimulus checks, you need the support of some 12 Republicans. How likely is that at this point?

It sounds like Mitch McConnell is speaking on behalf of his caucus and is saying is this is not going to happen?

DURBIN: Well, let me tell you this, 44 Republicans joined the Democrats to pass it in the House. I think there's bipartisan support for the $2,000.

We certainly know the two senators Georgia are for it and number of other Republican senators have said they're for it. The only way we'll know is if we call it without the poison pills created by Mitch McConnell. Let's have an upper down vote on what passed the House. Let's do it tomorrow. And let's show the American people whether we're standing on their side or not.

ACOSTA: And I'll be speaking soon with Senator Bernie Sanders, who says he'll block the vote on potentially overriding President Trump's defense bill, a veto until Mitch McConnell allows a vote on these stimulus checks. Do you support that tactic? Is that tactic helpful at this point?

DURBIN: I don't want to use this defense bill for the national security and for the men and women in uniform as part of the strategy. It is going to pass. I can tell you knowing the Senate rules as I do, it is going to pass. Let's put the pressure on Senator McConnell to call the measure that passed the House from 2,000 bucks. It got a bipartisan roll call there. I think it's got enough votes to pass here. We'll never know till we try.

[17:25:04]

So I'd say to Bernie, with him on the goal of $2,000, let's not do it in expense of Department of Defense.

ACOSTA: And the Wall Street Journal editorial board says that by pushing for these $2,000 checks, President Trump is giving Democrats an assist to become the Senate majority. What do you make of that?

DURBIN: I don't know what the politics are this, to be honest with you. I think that there are families of both political faith and families that are independent, who need a helping hand. Why can't we just do the right thing on a bipartisan basis instead of trying to calculate, well, does this help here and hurt there? The American people are sick and tired of this calculation. They need help.

ACOSTA: And what do you make of this discrepancy that President-elect Joe Biden was talking about earlier today between the number of doses of the coronavirus vaccine allocated some 20 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine and only 2 million administered? We're showing a graphic of that right now. That's a huge discrepancy, Senator Durbin.

Should the senate look into this, investigate this and get to the bottom of this? Why aren't these vaccines going into people's arms?

DURBIN: Jim, I asked the Governor of Illinois yesterday, J.B. Pritzker, a telephone call. Our state is really doing pretty well compared to the rest of the nation. But we could do better.

And I said so what's the problem? He said it gets back to the same approach over and over again about the Trump administration. Let every state invent how to do this. And the net result of that is some do well, some don't do well.

Who are the losers in that calculation? The Americans in desperate need of vaccines, certainly health care workers and elderly people who need the vaccine right now. If we're going to put this pandemic behind us, we need a massive vaccination drive, the likes of which this nation has never seen. And it needs to be left at the top by President-elect Joe Biden.

ACOSTA: We certainly need something at this point because we need to get this pandemic behind us and it means both sides of the aisle working together to get that done.

All right, Senator Dick Durbin, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.

Coming up, different states, different parties in control, different philosophies for coping with the coronavirus. Next, why does Florida seem to be doing better than California? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:38]

ACOSTA: We're now on the breaking pandemic news. The Health and Human Services Department just revealed its allocated almost 20 million vaccine doses to states with just over 11 million distributed. But get this, only 2.1 million administered, that according to the CDC. Also breaking, California has just extended stay at home orders for the majority of the state as some hospitals are preparing for crisis care, which could include rationing of care.

CNN's Nick Valencia has a closer look at why the situation in California is so dire while other states like Florida have fared better despite issuing fewer restrictions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): L.A. County Emergency Room nurse Toni Katano says her hospital is running out of oxygen tanks and space in the morgue.

TONI KATANO, E.R. NURSE: Our morgue is full. That's only a matter of time before they start breaking up the butcher trucks.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Throughout the pandemic, she's used her social media to warn residents of what's to come if the current trend of COVID cases continues.

KATANO: And hours later, yes, there's still just as many ambulances. They don't stop coming.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Cases in the state have surged in spite of strict COVID-19 protocols, including a stay at home order. While California's Governor Gavin Newsom pushed for a lockdown in parts of the state, shutting down theme parks limiting dining at restaurants and shuttering movie theaters to flatten the curve. Meantime, in Florida, a state that's been wide open for months, things are still faring better per rate of new COVID cases. Why? Public health experts say Los Angeles was uniquely susceptible to an infectious disease outbreak.

JESSICA MALATY RIVERA, SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LEAD, COVID TRACKING PROJECT: Los Angeles County I think is home to some of the most overcrowded housing setups in the country. And because of that, you're seeing a lot of household transmission of the virus. There are high rates of poverty and high rates of homelessness.

VALENCIA (voice-over): California's large population means many are suffering from poverty or homelessness. The widening gap of COVID cases present in California is also a stark reminder that many essential workers there are people of color. The rate at which people are getting sick, especially Latino residents is most alarming.

California's Department of Health says 47 percent of the COVID related deaths are Latino, despite Latinos making up just 38.9 percent of California's population. Since the Thanksgiving holiday, California has continued to set daily record highs in hospitalizations and COVID related deaths. As of Tuesday, the seven-day rolling average of new cases is up by more than 37,000. That's more than a 13 percent increase in new positive cases in the past week.

Since it started the pandemic, more than 24,000 people have died in California. And now with hospitals flooded and airports packed, California is becoming the next epicenter of the pandemic.

RIVERA: I think that January and February are going to be really dark.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we're all pretty tired.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: And it was about a week ago that Toni Katano, the registered nurse that you heard from in that report said that she started to feel under the weather. At the time she chalked it up to being overworked like so many front line workers are, but over the weekend that fatigue turned to shortness of breath, and she since being diagnosed herself with the coronavirus.

Before leaving work, Jim, she said that for about three and a half weeks, everyone she was treating had a similar story. Not only were they non-white, but all of them, she says, had gathered for Thanksgiving. With Christmas behind us, Katano says that it's only a matter of time before more cases start surging in Los Angeles. Jim?

[17:35:03]

ACOSTA: All right, CNN's Nick Valencia, thank you so much for that.

Let's get more on all of these with Dr. Luciana Borio, a member of the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board and former Director of Medical and Biodefense Preparedness at the National Security Council. Dr. Borio, thanks so much for joining us. Let me play a bit of what President-elect Joe Biden said today on the vaccine rollout, he has some concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the pace of vaccine, and the vaccination program is moving now, as -- if it continues to move as it now. It's gonna take years not months to vaccinate the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: That is a scary prospect. And I don't think the American people are prepared for that, they want this over next year. What are the weak links in the distribution, Doctor, in the distribution system that we have here in this country that need to be addressed?

DR. LUCIANA BORIO, BIDEN-HARRIS TRANSITION COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD: That's right, Jim. So we have no time to waste. We have a vaccine that has been sent to states and has not been administered. And I think part of it is that a lot of the planning has been left to states.

They have not received the support they needed from Operation Warp Speed, from the administration, the Trump administration to really make sure that the vaccine that was manufactured and distributed is getting to the American people's arms.

So we're going to have to pick up the pace very quickly, we have no time to waste. The President-elect has made a commitment that if you'd like to see 100 million doses in the first 100 days of his administration, so we're going to have to accelerate the pace dramatically.

ACOSTA: And the administration has allocated, it says, nearly 20 million doses to the states. But that certainly does not tell the whole story. That does not mean that all of those vaccines have gone into arms. As a matter of fact, it's just a fraction of that, like a 10th of that. President-elect Biden says he plans to invoke the defense production act. How far will that go in addressing this gap do you think?

BORIO: Well, it has to be applied in the right ways to make sure that no component that goes into manufacturing vaccine is, you know, in short supply, basically ensures and prioritizes the required components to make vaccine. But, again, that's only one part of getting to vaccines and to American people.

We have to make sure that the distribution systems -- the administration systems are in place to be able to get vaccine to where it's needed. And they're -- you know, it's a large country. There are many places that are hard to reach, the rural areas.

And as he said today, he's going to, you know, spare no effort into making sure that vaccine reaches those who need vaccine -- who want a vaccine. You know, again, we have no time to waste, we have such a crisis right now, have about more than 2,000 people in America dying today, every day from COVID. We saw the travel over the holidays. So, basically, it's ensuring that we're going to see a lot more cases in January, and sadly, more deaths come February.

It's gonna take time to turn this around. But we have to, you know, be able to use the tools we have. And we -- there's been so much great effort to put into developing these vaccines. And it's really a pity if we cannot get every dose that is shipped into people's arms as soon as possible.

ACOSTA: And the Governor of Colorado just announced a little while ago that a state has just confirmed its first case of the U.K. variant of the coronavirus. Experts have said that this variant was probably already here. But is this a setback for the incoming administration's fight against the pandemic, if this much more concerning variant of the viruses is now present in this country?

BORIO: Look, so, there are a couple of things. One is that, like you said, you know, we already expected this to be here. The second thing is that viruses evolve, that's not -- should not be a surprise to people who work in a public health. You know, viruses evolve and that's why we need to do a much better job in making sure that we have an adequate surveillance system around the country to monitor these viruses as they evolve.

Fundamentally, the scientists are going to have to be very careful and assess the implications that this new variant and there'll be others perhaps in the future. We have to understand whether, you know, there's concern that it's already more transmissible, that it's easier for a person to transmit this virus if they have it. We have to still get to the bottom to make sure that it's not more virulent. We have to make sure that we think that vaccines will remain effective, but we have to confirm that. We have to make sure the diagnostic tests are going to continue to work.

But for the American people, what they need to know is that nothing really changes. They ought to continue to practice social distancing. By all means, avoid congregating socially with people who are not in their household, avoid crowded spaces, wear masks. So that's -- nothing changes about this new variant with respect to, you know, our conduct as individuals and what we do to practice health every day.

[17:40:01]

ACOSTA: All right, very good. Dr. Luciana Borio with some excellent information. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.

And coming up, it's one week and counting until the Georgia runoff. Standby for an update on the showdown for control of the U.S. Senate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: With just one week to go until the runoffs that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate, both of George's Republican senators are siding with President Trump in favor of $2,000 stimulus payments. Let's go to CNN's Kyung Lah in Georgia. Kyung, what are you seeing there?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're certainly seeing the influence once again of President Trump on these Georgia runoff races with the balance of the U.S. Senate. What we are seeing now are the two senators going across the entire state. Take a live look at Senator David Purdue's event, it has not started yet. This is his last event of the day. What he has said though publicly today is that he supports those $2,000 payments. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R), GEORGIA: I want to thank the President openly for signing that COVID bill on Sunday night to bring more aid to the state of Georgia. He brought $47 billion in the first round of cares that helped 174,000 businesses and saved a million and a half jobs. And I've talked to the President repeatedly over the weekend. His heart was we got to do this, we got to do this now.

And we don't want to wait. We don't trust the other side that will do it right. And so that's why he signed it in a long time.

You heard the applause as the senator mentioned the President's name. He is extremely proud. That will do it right. And so that's why he signed it into law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:45:05]

LAH: You heard the applause as the Senator mentioned the President's name. He is extremely popular here. David Perdue falling in line with President Trump's wishes, a similar position now taken by Senator Kelly Loeffler. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R), GEORGIA: -- I said support it, I support it. Look, we have to provide relief to Americans because Democrats have locked our country down. They play politics with this moment and refused to pass relief month after month after month.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And with just about one week to go because some of these early voting sites are now just closing, Jim, we are getting this number just in now to CNN. 3 million early votes cast with one week to go, a few more days left of early vote, Jim, and, you know, Election Day hasn't happened yet. So an extraordinary amount of interest as all of this politics out of Washington continues to play out here in Georgia. Jim?

ACOSTA: And it is a stunning number, that is a huge number of people, Kyung. And it is -- it's notable because it seems that many Georgians have already made up their minds as to who they're going to vote for, regardless of this stimulus check issue. Their votes were cast before this issue are really flared up here in the last weeks of 2020.

But -- all right, CNN's Kyung Lah, thanks so much for that great report. We'll see you soon.

Coming up, a look at the scramble to get to the front of the line for coronavirus shots. And a little bit, we'll speak with Senator Bernie Sanders about his fight to force his Senate vote on the $2,000 coronavirus relief payments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:51:09]

ACOSTA: Even though front line medical workers and vulnerable seniors are supposed to be at the front of the line for the new coronavirus vaccine, CNN has learned some congressional staffers have been cleared to get shots now. CNN's Brian Todd has been looking into who else is moving to the front of the line and why Brian, what have you found?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, there is obviously high demand and a lot of pressure on some doctors to move people to the front of the vaccine line. Tonight, we have new information on that, and on that recent letter from the top Capitol physician to House and Senate offices.

TODD (voice-over): New information tonight on who's moving to the front of the line for the coronavirus vaccine. A letter obtained by CNN from the attending physician of the U.S. Capitol to all the House and Senate offices this week says each of those offices can have at least two staffers receive the vaccine now. The letter specifies that those staffers should be people whose jobs are necessary for continuity of operations of the government. Staffers who come into the office and interact with people face to face.

This comes as less than 10 percent of the front line health care workers and residents of long-term care homes in America who have priority to get the vaccine have actually received it so far. But one prominent doctor says it's appropriate for congressional staffers to get it.

DR. ROBERT KIM FARLEY, PROFESSOR, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Certainly keeping our government operating and serving us as the citizens is an important feature. So I think it is important that government does have for essential workers, to keep the government running vaccine supply to them.

TODD (voice-over): In the sports arena, according to ESPN, the NBA warned its teams last week that they should not try to get the vaccine for their players and staff ahead of everyone else, except people who might have high risk for complications from the virus. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke about that to ESPN.

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: There's no way we would ever jump the line in any form, whatsoever. And for the most part, because our players are young and healthy, without some sort of comorbidity, they will not be a high priority.

TODD (voice-over): This comes as we hear stories of wealthy well connected people trying to pay top dollar to jump to the front of the vaccine line. Dr. David Nazarian with a concierge medical practice in Beverly Hills has among his patients a-list celebrities and entertainment execs. He says he's getting a lot of calls from those clients, pressuring him to give them the vaccine now.

DR. DAVID NAZARIAN, MY CONCIERGE MD, BEVERLY HILLS: At patients call and want to make donations to charity, to hospitals, to the practice to be able to pay $5,000 and $10,000 to get their families vaccinated.

TODD (voice-over): But Dr. Nazarian says he's determined to follow the government's vaccine guidelines and has turned all those requests down.

NAZARIAN: People that are wealthy and usually have access to things, this is one of those things it's difficult, it's difficult for them to understand that they have to wait

TODD (voice-over): There are also reports of hospitals taking unprecedented steps to boost security to protect their vaccines from being stolen. And there's concern that crime syndicates may target vaccine supply chains to steal doses or run vaccine scams, FARLEY: You always have the concern about it being stolen or siphoned off to a black market type of situation. This is something we need to be on the lookout for.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: And as for some doctors in private practices who are coming under enormous pressure to give the vaccine to their patients early, some states have already begun investigating doctors who are suspected of going against the government's guidelines on who should get the vaccine first, and those states could take away the licenses of doctors who violate those rules. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, fascinating report. Brian Todd, thank you very much.

Stay with us, I'll ask Senator Bernie Sanders about his push to force a Senate vote on $2,000 direct payments to help people struggling with economic crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:59:38]

ACOSTA: And welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today, I'm Jim Acosta in The Situation Room and we're following breaking news. President Trump now demanding Senate Republicans increased direct stimulus payments unless they, quote, have a death wish. I'll talk about it in a moment with Senator Bernie Sanders who's in a rare agreement with President on raising the checks to $2,000.

Also breaking, President-elect Joe Biden, a short time ago, slamming the Trump administration for lagging vaccine distribution.