Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Vaccination Rollout Falling Short Of Trump Administration Promises; Republican Senator Hawley To Challenge Electoral College Results; Interview With Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ); Fauci: U.S. Could Return To Normal By Early Fall If COVID-19 Vaccinations Pick Up; Police Respond To Revelation Nashville Bomber's Girlfriend Warned He Was Building Explosives. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 30, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: But that is just a fraction of nearly 20 million available and marked for distribution to states, this as the need for protection against the virus is urgent.

Tonight, more than 341,000 Americans are dead. Total cases are nearing 20 million. And daily deaths and hospitalizations have hit a new high. And the new CDC projections are out. Up to 84,000 more deaths are expected in the next few weeks,the pandemic hammering the economy as well.

But, tonight, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell says there is no realistic path for getting $2,000 stimulus checks approved by the Senate anytime soon, McConnell defying intense pressure to increase those payments coming from President Trump and his unlikely allies, the Democrats.

Let's go right to Sara Murray.

Sara, there is more evidence tonight that Americans are not getting vaccinated as quickly as everybody hoped.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim.

The vaccines may be going out, but they're certainly no good unless they go into Americans' arms. And really any way you slice the data, that's just not happening fast enough.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY (voice-over): As the rate of coronavirus vaccinations falls far short of the Trump administration's optimistic projections...

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Of course we need to be doing a better job, but all vaccine programs start somewhat slow.

MURRAY: ... Operation Warp Speed officials are offering few specifics on how to speed up the pace. GEN. GUSTAVE PERNA, U.S. ARMY MATERIEL COMMAND: Here's what I have

confidence in. Every day, everybody gets better. And I believe that uptake will increase significantly as we go forward.

MURRAY: According to the CDC, nearly 2.6 million shots have gone into Americans' arms, and nearly 12.5 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed.

GIROIR: Vaccines on the shelf are no good. They need to get in people's arms.

MURRAY: The administration coming under fire from the Biden team and other health experts for the slow rollout.

DR. RICK BRIGHT, FORMER DIRECTOR, BIOMEDICAL ADVANCED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: What this reveals is a failure to plan, a failure to have a national strategy to vaccinate individuals across the country, a failure to communicate, a failure to coordinate.

MURRAY: This as the U.K. as another vaccine to its arsenal, green- lighting the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which is still being evaluated in the U.S. It's cheaper, easier to transport. And the U.K. says it offers a high level of protection after the first dose, allowing the U.K. to vaccinate as many people as possible with the first dose, and wait longer to administer the second.

DR. JAY VARKEY, EMORY UNIVERSITY: I think it could represent a game- changer, but I think we can wait and really kind of focus on letting our scientists vet the data and make sure that we're using the product we have.

MURRAY: Vaccine developers still believe the shots will ward off new strains of the virus. In the U.S., Colorado confirmed one case of the U.K. COVID-19 strain in a member of the National Guard with no known travel history.

Officials are looking into a probable case in another Guard member. Both were deployed to the same nursing home.

The California governor announcing today the new strain has also appeared in Southern California.

BRIGHT: What's really concerning is, it's taken so long to detect it in the United States. It tells us once again, if you're not testing for something, you're not going to find it.

MURRAY: This comes as the U.S. continues to notch heartbreaking records. Another 3,725 deaths were recorded Tuesday, and nearly 125,000 hospitalizations, both new highs, the U.S. hitting daily hospitalization records 22 times this December.

As New York prepares emergency hospital facilities, including the Javits Center, in case of another COVID surge, California is warning hospitals to prepare for crisis care made and the possibility of rationing care. DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: In some hospitals, there is

not enough infrastructure to deliver oxygen right at the rate necessary. California is going through a very tough time right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: And the CDC just released a new ensemble forecast today, and it is more grim news. They're now projecting the U.S. could reach 424,000 COVID deaths by January 23.

Obviously, Jim, the quicker we can get vaccines out to people, the more protection we're going to have across the country. That's why this is so urgent.

ACOSTA: Yes, that help is desperately needed.

All right, Sara Murray, thank you for that.

Now to the push for $2,000 stimulus checks. It's hit a wall in the Senate, a wall put up by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

Let's go to CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, President Trump is turning up the pressure, but Mitch McConnell is not budging.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, he's not.

He's basically dashing any hopes of these checks actually getting passed through the Senate, because he is saying they must stay tied to two other demands that the president has made, and those are demands the Democrats say they're not willing to budge on.

And Mitch McConnell knows that. He knows they're not going to be moving on that. So, by tying them all together, he knows they are not going to actually go anywhere in the Senate. And that's given the pressure -- that's despite the president's pressure, I should say, that repeated pressure that we have seen coming in a series of tweets from the president, as he's also been lashing out at McConnell.

So, we are seeing someone who has been a frequent ally of the president's refuse to do his bid bidding on this thing, while another member of his conference is willing to do the president's bidding.

[18:05:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): It's a move that will delight President Trump and rankle Republican leadership, Josh Hawley becoming the first Republican senator to say he will object when Congress meets next week to certify Joe Biden's win, an effort that won't change the outcome, but could set up a showdown in Washington.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): There's a very clear process to handle and dispense with objections from members of Congress to the counting of the result, and that's just what we will do, dispense with them.

COLLINS: Hawley writing: "At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned his caucus against this very move, saying it was bound to fail and would force Republicans to defy Trump or vote against a fair election.

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: So you have either got to say there was no systematic fraud or Donald Trump had the worst legal team in the history of Western civilization. This is a complete sham.

COLLINS: Hawley is the first Republican senator to say he will object, but he may not be the last, as others also consider their political futures.

Meanwhile, the president argued that because a Gallup poll found he was the most admired man of 2020, it also means he won the election. As $600 stimulus checks were being deposited into bank accounts of Americans overnight, the fate of the $2,000 ones that Trump pushed for at the last minute remained in limbo, as he tweeted, "$2,000 ASAP."

McConnell made clear today the Senate won't move forward on a House- passed bill to increase checks to $2,000 and will only consider a bill that includes Trump's other demands as well, which Democrats argue will doom it.

SCHUMER: The only way, the only way to get to the American people the $2,000 checks they deserve and need is to pass the House bill and pass it now.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The Senate's not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats' rich friends who don't need the help.

COLLINS: The president is also lashing out at Republican officials in Georgia once again, urging the GOP governor he once endorsed to resign from office, while falsely claiming the secretary of state, who voted for him, has a brother working for China.

President-elect Biden announced today he will visit the state on Monday ahead of a high-stakes Senate race, the same day President Trump is scheduled to hold a rally there.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, Georgia.

COLLINS: The focus on the 2020 race and the fate of the Senate majority comes as Trump is back to blaming states for criticism of his own coronavirus response, now saying it's on them to distribute the vaccine and telling them to get moving.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And, Jim, today the president continued to lash out at those Republicans in Georgia, going after them again just a short time ago, saying they're controlled by Stacey Abrams and other Democrats in the state, given that they are Republicans who voted for the president, endorsed him and campaigned for him, and now they are the target of his ire, clearly, on Twitter.

ACOSTA: That's gratitude for you.

OK, Kaitlan, stay with us, as we bring in CNN congressional correspondent Phil Mattingly, CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Harrison, and CNN contributor and Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, who is steeped in all kinds of knowledge on these matters.

Ben, let me start with you.

Senator Josh Hawley, he plans to object to these election results when Congress meets next week. And we're hearing some updated information just in the last several minutes that Hawley plans to challenge the results coming from multiple states.

And so this could drag out the process all day long, apparently, next week. He's considering this from what we understand, what the senator is saying at this point. But this has zero percent chance of success, isn't that right?

BEN GINSBERG, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's correct, zero percent chance. And the notion that he's going to highlight fraud and abuse in the electoral system is totally misplaced.

The forum to do that is a court of law. And in all the many court cases, about 60 now, the Trump forces have tried to present that evidence and have utterly failed. And so what Josh Hawley is going to do is just repeat the misinformation that's been floating around the country already.

ACOSTA: And, Nia, is this -- this is political theater. Josh Hawley is a smart guy. He knows what he's doing here.

Is he trying to perform for an audience of one here, or is this more about the next election cycle?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I think it's both for Josh Hawley, one, to show his loyalty to Donald Trump, but also wanting to get some sort of hold on Donald Trump's base.

If you look at some of the polling, something like 70 percent of Republicans believe that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud. And so those are the folks that, if you're Josh Hawley, you're trying to court and to rise in the ranks among Republicans.

[18:10:06]

I think one of the questions is, will there be other folks in the Senate who have similar ambitions as Senator Josh Hawley, people like Ted Cruz, people like Rand Paul, people like Marco Rubio, who also might want to run for president in 2024, or could have races coming up in 2022 and want to stave off a primary challenge by showing their loyalty to Donald Trump?

So, we will see what happens with any more of these Republicans. Are they going to defy Mitch McConnell and go along with Josh Hawley?

ACOSTA: And, Phil Mattingly, how big of a headache does this create for Mitch McConnell?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's -- there's just different incentives, right? Mitch McConnell's concerned about the 52 members of his conference.

And I think this is a key point why Mitch McConnell a couple weeks ago warned his conference not to get in bed with House Republicans as they did this. And he did it because he understands that the endgame here, while there is no actual outcome to change the electoral results, the endgame here is that they are going to have to vote.

Members of the Senate are going to have to vote on whether or not they want to object to the electors. That means every single member. And that includes Republicans who are up for reelection in 2022 or up for reelection in 2024, the types of Republicans that Mitch McConnell, the current majority leader, would like to keep inside his conference.

So, I think that's why the warning came out. It wasn't just from McConnell. It was from some of his top deputies, too, who are trying to pass the word, saying, don't go along with it, and many times highlighting that, back in 2005, a Democrat, Barbara Boxer, got on board with a House challenge, and she lost that vote 74-1.

McConnell trying to highlight that he thought that was an embarrassing defeat, hoping it would persuade all of his conference to stick with him on this.

I think the reality is, and we have all been watching over the next couple of weeks, it seemed kind of inevitable that someone was going to do this, and probably not just Josh Hawley. There will probably be others as well.

But I think the big picture of frustration from the McConnell team and I think from a lot of senior Republicans right now is, it's putting their members in a difficult position of having to vote against President Trump, perhaps bring the ire of the base, perhaps draw a primary challenge because of that vote, or vote for the president on an election that has been laid out very clearly, has been litigated to the hilt, and it's very clearly not the case that Donald Trump has grounds for his complaints right now.

ACOSTA: And, Ben Ginsberg, I was talking to John Bolton about this yesterday, the former national security adviser, and he was saying any Republican who signs on to this effort is embarrassing himself or herself in history, as history looks back on this period.

What is -- you're a longtime Republican lawyer who has specialized in these election disputes. What does this move that we're going to see next week, the spectacle that we're going to see next week, say about your party? GINSBERG: Well, nothing good for the long term.

What it does say is, there has to be some honest reassessment. And I think one of the things that's bothering Republican senators the most today is that the grandstanding of Josh Hawley and others who may join him says that it's not going to be a unified Republican Caucus or conference fighting Joe Biden, that, in fact, many of the members will have their own 2024 interests at heart.

And that means that the party developing a message, getting back to principles, is going to be really tough to do with a narrow majority and a unified voice.

ACOSTA: And, Nia, how problematic is it for Republicans to sign on to these absurd efforts to fight the election results that are going to go nowhere, but won't get behind these stimulus checks, these increased stimulus checks?

It seems -- I mean, this sounds like something that would make a Republican operative's head explode.

HENDERSON: No, you're right.

I mean, it's a party that really isn't recognizable in terms of what the party used to stand for. On the one hand, you can see, the $2,000 stimulus, this is about the deficit, and Republicans have long talked about that, even though, in other instances, they haven't necessarily cared about that.

But with this idea that somehow Donald Trump didn't lose this election, that there is widespread voter fraud, them buying into a conspiracy theory, and also kind of buying into Trump's authoritarian instincts here, as if he has ultimate authority.

Even if you think about the lawsuit that Louie Gohmert is trying against Mike Pence, the idea that Mike Pence somehow can overthrow the votes of 20 million people and that he has absolute authority, it isn't democratic. It isn't anything like America, American democracy.

And it certainly isn't anything like we're used to seeing from Republicans more broadly.

Listen, we do know that the Republican Party has talked about voter fraud for decades and decades and decades, and they have used the idea of voter fraud to then really, I think, clamp down on people voting, widespread voting, whether it's closing polling stations and all those kinds of things.

[18:15:07]

So, in that way, it is in keeping. But, my goodness, going along with Donald Trump in this way is very odd, given the history of the Republican Party more broadly, saying that they stood for democracy, they didn't like authoritarian leaders or dictators. And that's certainly what they're doing now in going with Donald Trump on this authoritarian idea in overthrowing the votes of millions of people. ACOSTA: Right.

And, Kaitlan, it seemed like Mitch McConnell might have been feeling the pressure to increase the stimulus checks with those two Georgia run-off candidates, the incumbent senators, essentially supporting those checks.

But now it looks like these -- the chances for these checks being increased are fading. And it's one last, I think, blow to the president's standing, it sounds, at this point. Isn't that right?

COLLINS: Well, I think, also, if the president had been incredibly eager to get people $2,000 in stimulus checks, it's something that he would have voiced a lot sooner in those negotiations. And he didn't.

And so you could openly see the frustration from Mitch McConnell, as he often talks about how it wasn't president's team that was there negotiating with lawmakers on what those checks were going to look like. And you certainly heard Democrats talk about the $600, because they say they were underwhelmed by it.

But Mitch McConnell, he doesn't say it explicitly. He speaks in his Mitch McConnell way. But if you read between the lines, you can see he's pointing out, you guys didn't ask for this sooner. So, of course, it's a lot harder to bring it to a vote right now.

But I think the president is kind of this mentality where he's not really looking out for Mitch McConnell's Republican Caucus. He is in a burn-it-all-down kind of mind-set so far that he has been ever since he lost the election.

And so the only person whose political fate he's concerned about right now is his own. Yes, he is going to Georgia on Monday to campaign for David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. But as we saw with the president's other -- one -- only one other appearance he made in Georgia on behalf of them, a lot of his rally had a lot more to do with his election loss than it had to do with the fate of the Senate and what's going to happen.

So I think that's the concern, and I think Mitch McConnell is aware of that.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

It seems to all come down to soothing that ego, soothing those hurt feelings, as he just can't get over the fact that he's lost this election.

In the meantime, there are millions and millions of Americans who are just desperate for more financial relief during this crisis, and they're just not going to get it. They're going to get a spectacle next week, but they're not going to get more relief.

All right, thanks to all of you for that. We appreciate it.

More breaking news ahead on the stimulus check increase that is going nowhere in the U.S. Senate, thanks in large part to Mitch McConnell. I will talk to a top Democrat, Senator Bob Menendez.

And an alarming forecast about COVID deaths in the next few weeks, as the vaccine rollout is hitting logjams.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:21:08]

ACOSTA: And we have more breaking news now out of the Senate right now.

It is now officially considering an override of President Trump's veto of a key defense bill, after a procedural vote a short while ago passed overwhelmingly.

Joining me now, Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey. He's the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

And, Senator, let me just talk to you about this news on the defense bill. Are you confident that the Senate has the votes to override President Trump's veto, and I suppose perhaps it's just a matter of time at this point?

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ): Absolutely, Jim.

The Senate will override President Trump's veto, the first override that he will face now at the end of his term. And we're in this predicament at the end of the year because legislation that provides for the national defense that would give our service members a much- needed pay raise, take care of their families, help us strengthen against cybersecurity attacks, has been vetoed by the president, the first one to do so in nearly six decades.

And so this had strong bipartisan support. It will have a strong bipartisan veto of -- I mean, override of his veto.

ACOSTA: Now, let me ask you.

When it comes to President Trump's call for bigger checks, bigger stimulus checks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he won't split that issue from the president's other demands on election fraud and regulating the Internet, the Section 230 issue.

Is the prospect of $2,000 stimulus checks essentially dead tonight?

MENENDEZ: Well, Senator McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate, often refers to himself as the Grim Reaper. And that's what he's done with this $2,000 check.

The Democrats have been for this since March, a higher payment to families $75,000 and under. You know, the president says he wants it, although he said nothing until after the whole negotiation was done and the bill was sent to him.

There are a series of Republican senators who say that they would vote for it. Well, then there's no reason to try to have poison pills introduced to it. The simple question is, do you believe that families struggling in America should get up to $2,000, instead of $600? I do. Democrats do. Give us a vote up or down.

If you give us a vote up or down, I believe that that would pass. But Senator McConnell doesn't want to do that.

ACOSTA: And let me ask you about something that McConnell said. He accused Democrats of attempting to -- quote -- "let wealthy households suck up even more money."

What do you say to that?

MENENDEZ: It's a parallel alternate universe.

I know this is Washington, but only in Washington could you give the richest people in America nearly $2 trillion of unpaid-for tax cuts and then say to families making $75,000 -- an individual making $75,000 or less that that somehow is a rich person.

You know, those families are struggling. Your station, CNN, has reported about long food lines, people for the first time in their lives seeking to get food at food banks, the number of people who are unemployed in the nation, the number of people who face eviction from their homes, the number of people who can't make their mortgage meet. And the list goes on and on.

I don't believe that an American who's making $75,000 or less and has dependent children, at the end of the day, shouldn't be able to get $2,000 to try to get them through what I hope will be the last leg of this pandemic.

ACOSTA: And I want to turn to what your Republican colleague Josh Hawley is trying to do, be the first senator to commit to fighting the election results when Congress meets next week.

This promises to be a huge spectacle here in Washington. But the chances of this effort succeeding are basically zero.

How will this reflect on the Senate and our democracy? What does this mean for American democracy, do you think, Senator?

[18:25:06]

MENENDEZ: Well, look, if Senator Hawley wants to indulge in Donald Trump's fever dream, he does so at the expense of his own reputation.

And I think the American people will not take lightly to see anyone try to disenfranchise millions of Americans who cast their vote in an unprecedented way in this presidential election.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be the president and vice president of the United States. Nothing will stop that.

However, I can tell you, from my perch on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it is not good for the rest of the world, where we advocate for democracy and human rights, to see the very essence of our democracy undermined by those who would try to discredit it, when there are no facts whatsoever, when even a Republican majority Supreme Court of those justices sitting on the Supreme Court, several appointed by this president, have outright rejected the president's claims.

That should be enough even for my Republican colleagues.

ACOSTA: And switching gears, Senator, this is an issue you have worked on for years, but CNN has learned that Secretary Pompeo is taking steps to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Are there grounds for this, do you think, or is this an effort to create hurdles for the incoming Biden administration? As you know, when Joe Biden was vice president, Barack Obama reestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba.

What do you make of that move that Secretary Pompeo's apparently moving towards tonight?

MENENDEZ: Well, no one's had a longer career of fighting against the Castro regime and their human rights abuses and their destruction of democracy inside of Cuba.

But, at the end of the day, the state sponsor of terrorism designation has to be done on facts. If the facts substantiate that Cuba should be returned, because it once was on the state sponsor of terrorism list, then certainly I would support that.

But we'd have to see exactly, what is it that the designation is based on?

ACOSTA: All right, Senator Bob Menendez, we will be keeping an eye on that issue. Thanks so much for that. We appreciate it.

And happy new year. Great talking to you, sir.

MENENDEZ: Same to you.

ACOSTA: All right, breaking pandemic news is next, a worrying new CDC projection of more than 80,000 additional COVID deaths in the U.S. before the end of January.

Plus, California now the second state to report a case of that British virus variant, a very disturbing variant. Colorado was the first state to detect this.

And Governor Jared Polis from that state, he is standing by to join us live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

ACOSTA: Tonight, Dr. Anthony fauci is offering a new timetable for when life may return to normal in the United States. He says it could happen by early fall if COVID-19 vaccinations pick up. But there's more evidence that the vaccine rollout is lagging. The CDC now reports nearly 2.6 million vaccinations have been administered but that is a sliver of the nearly 20 million doses available to be distributed to the states.

Let's bring in Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Hotez, thanks as always.

I want to begin with Dr. Fauci's prediction that we will return to a sense of normalcy in the early fall part of next year as the vaccine rolls out more slowly than many had anticipated. What do you make of that timeline? I mean, it's depressing to think about that we may have to wait until early fall now to get back to normal.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN OF THE NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, I did -- when I heard that, I did a back of the envelope calculation and it goes something like this. What back to normal means is that we're going to vaccinate roughly 80 percent of the U.S. population in order to begin interrupting virus transmission, and that's what getting back fully to normal means.

It's doable but 80 percent of the U.S. population, 330 million Americans, we're looking at 260 million doses of vaccines have to be delivered. That's 32 million doses a month. That's a million doses a day, Jim. That's what we have to do. Starting now until the beginning of September we have to inoculate a million Americans every day.

And do we have the health system to do that? I'm not certain. I'm getting the sense that Operation Warp Speed didn't really plan for that. What it did was it planned for the doses and it planned to send out the UPS trucks and the FedEx trucks and deliver it to the states. But then it was adios, that's it. It's up to the states to deliver a million doses a day. And I don't think the states have the infrastructure to do that.

So I was glad that President-elect Biden said yesterday that, you know, we're going to have to build in some new infrastructure and really build in a federal response, and that's what's going to happen. I don't think simply saying it's up to now Rite-Aid and Walgreens and CVS and the pharmacy chains, like HEB, as good as they are, that's not going to be adequate.

We're going to have to look at maybe creating some tent cities to vaccinate people. We're going to have to go into low-income neighborhoods. This is going to be a big deal. And I hope everyone realizes that.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. And let's take a look at this graphic because this is -- this really gets to the heart of the matter. Of the nearly 20 million dose that have been allocated, only 2.6 million shots have been given to Americans. You were just saying a few moments ago we need to have about a million doses administered every day.

[18:35:05]

We're nowhere near that number right now. What is taking so long?

HOTEZ: Well, there're a few things. There are some logistical issues. That first vaccine, the Pfizer vaccine, is the most complicated of all logistically because of the deep freezer requirements. We're just getting started. And Tony has mentioned -- Dr. Fauci has mentioned that we'll start building momentum. And I think he's right.

But we're going to need something new to really administer a million doses a day of a new vaccine. And remember, it's not a trivial matter. It's not like you just do the inoculation and then send them off. You have to watch them for 30 minutes or 15 minutes because of severe allergic reactions, even though they're still rare that's a possibility. We have to look after. So this is going to be extremely complicated.

And we're going to need a federal response. This business that we've been doing all year in the country of saying, okay, the federal government will provide the backup FEMA support and this and that and then it's up to the states to lead, that's failed every time. It's failed in the delivery of diagnostic kits. It's failed in the genomic virus sequencing. And it's going to fail for this as well. So this means all-hands-on-deck for a massive federal response.

ACOSTA: Yes, passing the buck is just not going to cut it. All right, Dr. Peter Hotez, thanks so much, as always.

I want to bring in Colorado's governor, Jared Polis, who is joining us now. Governor, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.

I want to start with this confirmed case of the new coronavirus strain in your state that caught a lot of people by surprise although I guess not that surprising. The individual had no travel history from what we understand. Has the presence of this new, more contagious variant in your state led to some renewed vigilance? What do you make of that?

GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): Well, I think everybody across the country expected that it was here. It's probably more prevalent in areas that have even more travel to the U.K., like New England and Mid-Atlantic. We were thrilled that Colorado scientists were the first to find the variant. I fully expect that other states will discover it present among their population in the coming days. I believe there's some initial news out of other states as well.

So, you know, good triumph for Colorado scientists. Yes, does it concern us? Absolutely. The documentation, the science out of the U.K. models a higher spread rate, greater contagious nature of this virus. So, really, across the country, as we learn the extent of the prevalence of this new variant it's particularly important for people to wear masks and avoid social gatherings.

ACOSTA: And on these reports of the second suspected case of the strain in Colorado, we're already getting reports of that. If it continues to spread as expected, is your health care system prepared to deal with that potential surge? The scientists are telling us that this new strain is more contagious but perhaps not more deadly. But you certainly are not going to be in a good situation if this more contagious strain of the virus results in your hospitals being flooded.

POLIS: So, fortunately, the potential second case is connected to that first case. So it still is the one pod. We've screened a number of different cases and have not found -- have found other variants that are not the variant. So it's clearly not widespread at this point in our state. We're still getting the sense of how widespread it is across the country.

And you're right. The more people contract the virus because it's more contagious, even if the same number of people have to go to the hospital, the same fatality rate, you have greater raw numbers of hospitalizations and tragically deaths if you have a virus that's more contagious.

ACOSTA: And just very quickly, President Trump is saying it's the states that now have to take the ball and run with it when it comes to inoculating the public, vaccinating the public. What's your response to that?

POLIS: Well, look, we're happy to take that on. In fact, the one area the federal government is working around the state is our nursing homes and skilled care facilities. They have contracted with CVS and Walgreens. Everything else, we're getting out ourselves.

And I'm proud that Colorado is in the top five states for getting the vaccine into arms on a per capita basis. We can do even better but we all know the country can as a whole as well.

ACOSTA: Governor Jared Polis, thank you so much, we appreciate it and best of luck to everybody out there in Colorado.

Just ahead, chilling 911 recordings both before and after the Christmas Day bombing in Downtown Nashville.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

ACOSTA: And we're learning new details about the suspect in the Nashville suicide bombing, including an ominous warning. CNN's Brian Todd is monitoring the Nashville investigation.

Brian, how are police responding to this revelation?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, tonight Nashville Police are defending their actions of more than a year ago when they were told by the suspect's girlfriend that he was making bombs inside his R.V. This comes as we're hearing new 911 recordings of that horrific Christmas morning in Nashville.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice over): Tonight, new 911 calls just released by Nashville Police describing the carnage of the bombing early Christmas morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was just a massive (BLEEP) explosion downtown with a huge fireball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a big explosion, and it was closer toward the AT&T building.

TODD: The 911 calls also cover the moments before the bomb went off when people nearby reported that ominous recording coming from bomber Anthony Warner's R.V.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a recording out there that's saying there's a limited time to evacuate this area. There's a large bottom inside this vehicle.

TODD: Minutes later the blast rocked the downtown area, injuring at least eight people and damaging more than three dozen buildings.

[18:45:04]

One woman called in and said her building's roof was collapsing.

CALLER: The roof is collapsing in.

911 OP: OK. Stay with me.

CALLER: Oh, my God.

911 OP: You're OK. You said (AUDIO DELETED) correct?

CALLER: Yeah, yeah. It's just like -- I don't know what's going on. Ralph, come on. Ralph, come on!

TODD: A key question tonight, did police miss an opportunity from another 911 call more than a year earlier?

911 CALL FROM ATTORNEY RAYMOND THROCKMORTON: She has threatened to take her own life, and she has also given me information about another resident of that part of Nashville.

TODD: That call on August 21st of last year was made by Raymond Throckmorton, an attorney for Pamela Perry, who told police she was the girlfriend of Anthony Warner. According to the incident report, Perry told police that Warner was, quote, building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence.

The report says the lawyer, Throckmorton, told police that Warner frequently talks about the military and bomb-making, that he believes that the suspect knows what he's doing and is capable of making a bomb.

THROCKMORTON: That I decided in her front yard, in the middle of all those police officers, on the spot, that even though it was a former client of mine that somebody needed to get check him out right then.

TODD: And Nashville police did, going to Warner's home, knocking on the door, getting no answer. They saw the RV and security cameras but did not enter the property because they say he had had no basis for a search warrant. CHIEF JOHN DRAKE, NASHVILLE POLICE: So it would have taken signs that

actually a crime was being committed, that a bomb was actually being made.

TODD: The police chief says officers went by Warner's home for several days after that but couldn't make contact with him.

CNN law enforcement analyst Peter Licata says police could have surveilled Warner to a point.

PETER LICATA, FORMER FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Law enforcement would typically in this case surveil an individual for a couple days, maybe a week, to establish a pattern of life. After that, as long as everything checks out and Warner seems done above board, in which case he obviously was, there's not a lot they're going to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): And the FBI tells CNN that at that time, Nashville police asked the FBI to check its databases for any records of Anthony Warner. The FBI says it did that and found no records of him at all. Police and the FBI are still investigating his possible motive -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Brian Todd, thanks for that.

Just ahead, how will President Trump be remembered in history? As he creates chaos in his final days? And a Senate ally is now willing to help him by formally objecting to President-elect Joe Biden's win.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:52:24]

ACOSTA: Tonight, as we're just weeks away from the inauguration of the new president, CNN is looking back at the Jimmy Carter era. The CNN film explores the 39th president's close connection with music and how it helped put him in the White House.

Joining us now is Doug Brinkley, CNN presidential historian and author of "The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House."

And, Doug, great talking to you. Let's talk about the documentary in just a moment.

But, first, what is your reaction to the first Senator Josh Hawley, on the Republican side announcing he will object to the results of the election when Congress meets next week. I'm guessing as a presidential historian, we've never seen anything like this before.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: We've never really seen anything like it, particularly with a pandemic going on. You would think the Republican Party would be united on disseminating the vaccine.

But there are two parties. There's Donald Trump and his power base and he's now able to see who's a Trumpian and who's not, and you're starting to see jealousy towards Mitch McConnell. Donald Trump doesn't want the idea that if Georgia goes Republican way, Senator Mitch McConnell as the powerbroker, able to do deals with Joe Biden, Trump's going to say no deals with Biden.

He's a phony president and turn to his 20 or maybe 15 senators that are pure Trump, that say no to Biden, and that way, Trump will be able to continue to exert power.

ACOSTA: All right. Well, let's turn to this new CNN film exploring former President Jimmy Carter's good relationships with some of the biggest names in music.

Let me play a preview for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT: When Willie Nelson wrote his autobiography, he confessed that he smoked pot in the White House one night when he was spending the night with me. And he says that his companion that shared the pot with him was one of the servants in the White House.

That is not exactly true. It actually was one of my sons, which he didn't want to, you know, categorize as a pot smoker like him.

There were some people who didn't like my being deeply involved with Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan and disreputable, you know, rock and roll hosts, but I didn't care about that because I was doing what I really believed. And the response I think from the followers of those musicians was much more influential than a few people who thought that being associated with rock and roll and radical people was inappropriate for a president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Looks like some great candid moments there with Jimmy Carter. He was friends with Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett, the Allman Brothers.

[18:55:04]

How big a role did that play in shaping his political career, do you think?

BRINKLEY: It was gigantic. For starters, Capricorn Records was based out of Macon, Georgia. Phil Walden, who owned it, was one of the closest people to Jimmy Carter and Southern Rock was just getting big. So, to have Allman Brothers play softball with you in Plains, Georgia, or endorsed you is gigantic, having "Rolling Stone" magazine write a cover story endorsing Jimmy Carter was big.

And Bob Dylan, Carter loved early on. In fact, his autobiography "why not the best," he quotes the Bob Dylan song for Woody about Woody Guthrie. And most impressively, Jimmy Carter at his inaugural quoted the Bob Dylan line from "It's Alright, Ma, I'm Only Bleeding", you not being born or busy dying.

And so, the closeness, and Dylan recently was with Jimmy Carter at a Cares event out in California. Both Dylan and Jimmy Carter won Nobel Prizes.

ACOSTA: Well, the film looks terrific. And we look forward to seeing it.

Douglas Brinkley, thanks for talking about it with us.

The all new CNN Film, "Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President", Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and more, premiers this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. only on CNN.

And we'll have more news just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Finally, we honor more people who died from the coronavirus.

Lorraine Shiffman of Michigan was 87 years old. Her daughter Randi says she was vibrant and strong and dedicated her life to being a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She became an avid stone collector while spending winters in Arizona, and may she rest in peace.

I'm Jim Acosta.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.