Coronavirus variant. The white house this morning discussing requiring travelers from the United Kingdom to present proof of a negative coronavirus test before arriving in the United States. Dozens of other countries have banned or restricted travel from the uk. This is what dr. It Anthony Fauci said about this just moments ago. Travel bans are really rather draconian things to do. Thats not really in the cards right now, but i wouldnt be surprised if the requirement of testing is something that is being actively considered right now. This morning hospitals are overwhelmed in the United States. More than 150,000 people now hospitalized, that is a record high. Meantime, there is growing anxiety at the pentagon over what President Trump will do next as he continues his push to overturn the election. Attorney Sidney Powell who of course was dumped from trumps legal team after pushing conspiracy theories, one after another, is spotted at the white house again on monday. If you are keeping track this is the third time she has been there in four days. A group of house conservatives also meeting with President Trump and Vice President pence on monday to strategize about overturning the will of the voters. Were going to start with the pandemic. Joining me is michael osterholm, president elect bidens Coronavirus Task force adviser and the director of the center for Infectious Disease research at the university of minnesota. Thanks so much for being with us. Thank you, john. This new variant or newish variant emerging in the United Kingdom, what are the biggest questions you have with this in the areas of biggest concern . Well, first of all, the good news is that the uk government has really gotten on top of this issue, theyve been sharing very openly information about this with the rest of the world and i congratulate them for that. Unfortunately this is a real challenge to us in terms of several things, number one, does this virus really transmit that much more easily than other virus strains within the coronavirus family. And right now it appears that it does. Which, of course, if that means that the virus spreads around the world, all these places we already have major challenges with transmission are only going to see the problem worsen. The second thing of course we have to understand does it have an impact on the vaccines . We sure hope it doesnt. The sense is it probably does not, but hope is not a strategy. We need the data to say does it really have an impact on the vaccines. Then we have to understand our testing approaching. There may be some challenges to how well some of our current tests will work against this very strain. One of the questions we have asked repeatedly is is it here already . Is it in the United States already . And the cdc posted some information that just came to light overnight, it says the uk coronavirus variant has not been identified through sequencing efforts in the United States, but only about 51,000 of 17 million u. S. Cases have been sequenced so far. So less than one half of 1 there. How much do we know or how could we know whether its here . The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence as you just noted and i think thats the challenge. The u. S. s program for sequencing these virus strains has actually been far under what we need. We need much better testing right now. The second thing s remember, this has all emerged within the last couple of weeks. So the testing of only the strains reason in the last two to three weeks have probably given us the idea of how much of this has come in from the uk or from anywhere else. Lets be really clear right now. Nothing will stop this virus from transmitting country to country. Our job is to slow it down. Right now as you know our hospitals are overwhelmed in many locations. Imagine adding on 20 or 30 increased caseloads on top of what we already are experiencing because we have a virus that transmits much more easily. We really need to develop a National Response and we are looking forward to the cdc and the white house giving us all in Public Health an update on what are they going to do about this. How are they going to respond . What can we do to slow down transmission in the United States. This variant or the variant from south africa or wherever these new variant viruses show up. So slow it down. The question, then, is how . Right . And you heard dr. Fauci say that a travel ban isnt where he is at least. He thinks thats draconian right now. There is the option of trying to pretest people, require a negative test for people coming to the United States. Jay inslee governor of Washington State is requiring a 14 day quarantine for people coming in from the United Kingdom. Which measures do you think are appropriate . I think everything has to be on the table right now. Again, i dont represent what the Biden Harris Transition Team is going to make a decision on, but i will say that the Current Administration needs to come up with a plan right now for what theyre going to do. Its absolutely true, travel bans do not stop viruses from still crossing political borders but they can slow down the transmission. What were trying to do is buy time to what i would call flatten the curve. We dont want a large bolus of cases over the next three to eight weeks from this strain. What can we do to slow it down . Testing one time before you come into the country is a snapshot at that moment. As we tell people right here in the United States when they travel, one test does not mean you are negative. So even that is inadequate. Really the only thing is to do a 14day quarantine once someone arrives here from one of these countries. The challenge with that, who is going to do it. Right now our local and state Public Health departments are overwhelmed just doing what theyre trying to do and of course we want them to concentrate on vaccination programs right now. I dont see who within the federal, state or local governments right now have that bandwidth to do the kind of quarantine that we would need. We have to put all these options on the table, none of them are going to be easy, none of them are going to be absolutely the perfect answer, but this new development of variants with this virus is a very, very critical point in our response to this entire pandemic. I have to tell you you say the same thing that dr. Hotez tells us earlier to the cdc and administration, just tell us something. Give us a plan here. We need an announcement today on this. Cant wait any longer. Professor osterholm, i want to show you a statistic which i know you probably wont like which is the number of people who have been traveling over the last few days. We have hit a Million People three out of the last five days in the airways and i know youve been asking people to really stay close to home, stay with your Nuclear Family over christmas. With the virus spreading, with the cases where they are and hospitalizations, is doing today the same thing that you would have done three weeks ago as safe . Or how does it change what is safe in your activities . Well, when the virus level in the Community Goes up, the risk of the very same behavior that might not have put you at that same increased risk a month ago does now. For example, if im in a room which only 1 out of 100 individuals might be infected, i have one chance of becoming infected in that setting, but what if there are ten people in that room . And what happens when the virus activity goes up in a community, that now is there. None of them know theyre infected but yet theyre breathing the virus out into the air that im about to breathe in. This is why i keep saying dont swap air. Stop swapping it. Youre right, right now we actually have a perfect storm. We have increased level of virus in our communities, we have people who are more likely to be more exposed because of the travel and the holiday season, and now on top of it we have the situation with these variant viruses that says if these start to spread around the world, which i am convinced they will, were even going to see more transmission occur. So this is why we cant waste a day in getting vaccine to people right now. Weve got to get this out. Thats the one thing that the light at the end of the tunnel. Same activity youre doing today is riskier than it would have been one week or two weeks ago. Professor osterholm, thanks so much for being with us and helping us understand whats going on here. We rish you a very merry christmas. You, too. Thanks, john. President elect joe biden received his first dose of the Coronavirus Vaccine at a delaware hospital. This is great hope, im doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when its available to take the vaccine. There is nothing to worry about. Joining us now the Nurse Practitioner who gave the president elect his shot. Great to have you with us this morning. This was not the first dose of vaccine that you gave, but giving one to the president elect, was it any different for you . Thank you so much, erica, for having me. It wasnt much different. I was just humbled that the president chose our organization, christiana care to come and get his vaccine. It was exciting. Humbled and exciting. You, actually, as i understand it, you administered your facilitys first vaccine on friday and that was for a respiratory therapist and at that moment, too, you said it was humbling. I wonder in the days since as youre reflecting upon that moment and what the vaccine means for your facility given what has happened over the last several months. Erica, in the past several months, you know, we have all been just focused on fighting covid19 virus, our Health Care Workers, from the physicians all the way to Environmental Services and as a director of Employee Health i have seen firsthand just how stressful it has been to our caregivers. For me when we heard that the vaccine had been approved, that it got the emergency use authorization and that we got it, at christiana care, it was just it was exciting. I couldnt wait because it means that we have another tooli in or toolbox. Masking, hand washing, social distancing. So i am looking forward to brighter days our caregivers are going to get and all of the caregivers. Absolutely looking forward to those brighter days. Whats your message to the Greater Community . Because so much of what happens outside christiana care will impact what happens inside your walls and how your frontline workers have to address it. You know r, our community an our neighbors, you know, at christiana care we serve our neighbors with love and excellence, so for all our neighbors out there both in delaware and around the world and all frontline workers and outside of health care i just want to say that this vaccine is safe. The president elect got the vaccine. I got it myself and we have been vaccinating our frontline workers as we intend to continue. So i am just looking forward to people stepping up, rolling up their sleeve, getting it. Thank you for joining us this morning and thank you for all that you and your colleagues are doing there as well. Thank you. House conservatives strategizing with President Trump and Vice President pence in another long shot bid to overturn the election. Could this one work . Thats next. Tired of overpaying for your prescriptions . Try optum perks. Its a new way to save up to 80 . And everyone can do it. Its from optum, a Health Care Company thats trusted by millions of people. You dont have to sign up for anything. Just go to optumperks. Com. And get a coupon to use at your pharmacy. Thats it. I opted in. I opted in. You can, too. Opt in and save big today. New this morning, growing anxiety at the pentagon over what President Trump will do in his final days in office. Some senior military officers even trying to steer clear of the white house rather than risk being in trumps orbit. Joining us now ron brownstein, cnns senior political analyst and Senior Editor at the atlantic and elizabeth numer former department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention. Good to have both of you this morning. Good morning. I want to talk about this reporting that we have from barbara starr. We dont know what he might do is the essence of it one officer told her. We are in strange times. They are actually according to barbara making lists of everything they can think of the president might do. Theyre worried about firing, forced resignations and of top military officers. In some ways i guess its not surprising, but i think that the picture that it paints should stop you in your tracks. Absolutely. I mean, its just an unconscionable that were talking about the president of the United States and the military having to be fearful of him, but sadly this is who trump is and he has been this way for the last four years. For those of us that werent familiar with him by now we should be familiar with the fact that he doesnt understand the constitution, he is incompetent in being able to carry out his duties and his priorities are not whats best for the country, but whats best for him. I find it interesting that you have white house officials now sounding the alarm, but the person that he is and the way that he has operated it hasnt changed. Maybe there are just less people there to constrain him now and maybe thats what theyre really concerned about. I do have the utmost confidence in our military, though, and i can appreciate that its very disconcerting that they are being put in this position, but you already have a number of Senior Leaders at the pentagon that have very clearly stated we have no role in the election process, theres no purpose for martial law in the current state of affairs. So i feel fairly confident that things will remain stable as with regards to the military involvement, but it doesnt help the American Public or our stance in the world to see that our democracy is being tainted. The fact that they are having the discussion at all just tells you everything, ron. Right. Right. And, john, you dont get here in a day and you dont get here by yourself. The fact that we are even having these discussions in the pentagon much less the spectacle of martial law being discussed in the oval office, the same place where Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan worked. It doesnt happen simply in a single stroke. The fact is that President Trump from the moment of taking office has pushed against the boundaries of the rule of law over and over again. Openly extorting the government of ukraine to manufacture dirt on his opponent, weaponizing the postal service, trying to tilt the census, everything that has happened since the election to try to undermine the result. Each step along the way his own party has failed to constrain him. In fact, has done more to abet and enable him and i think he is quite confidently taken the measure that he can keep going further and further and they will not put any kind of brakes on him. And that is how you get to the point where even if these boundaries hold at this you know, at this kind of ultimate moment of undermining the democracy the fact that we have gotten this far i think is the bigger story and one that is very chilling for where american politics may be going in the years ahead. Its an excellent point, right, that we all need to regularly stop and take stock of where were at and remind ourselves nothing about this is normal. Nothing about it is okay. You know, elizabeth, to your point, the president doesnt understand the constitution and to rons point, amassing these republicans to help him essentially do his bidding. I mean, lets look at this meeting that happened yesterday at the white house. Republican lawmakers, but also the fact that now Vice President pence is in on those meetings. Theres this reporting from Jonathan Swan at axios that part of the reason is that the president is a little fed up with mike pence and is a little worried that mike pence might actually do his job on january 6 when the Electoral College folks are officially koicounted announced, elizabeth. How much do you think that could be playing into what we are seeing, that the president wants to make sure mike pence is with him until the bitter end . You know, mike pence has to sleep in the bed he made, so i dont feel too sorry for him. He has had multiple opportunities to come forward and speak the truth and he continues to try to look the other way and dance around the issues. So i dont feel sorry for him. I do i do kind of wonder if this latest gambit is an attempt by some of the advisers to channel his energy into something, you know i will use the term mildly constructive as opposed to, you know, discussing military coups and martial law. I still think it is a disservice to our country, damages our country, riles up and radicalizes his base. I have spoken about my concerns about potential for violent coming out of violent extremist groups, but i suppose this is a better option than having him entertain military coups in the oval office. Its beyond low. The bar is like, you know, in the molten core of the earth if thats the bar at this point. Youre right. Ron brownstein, let me read you what Jonathan Swans reporting is on mike pence because i really do find this fascinating. He reports that pences role on january 6 has begun to loom large in trumps mind for people who discuss the matter with him. Trump reviewed pence performing his constitutional duty invalidating the election result as the ultimate betrayal. What pences constitutional role is on january 6th is to read the votes out loud. Literally, to read to read out loud is his constitutional role. He will say joe biden has 306 electoral votes and that allone is enough to set donald trump off and apparently enough to get mike pence inside the oval office with this conspiratorial meeting yesterday. I dont want to ask you to predict the future here but what evidence do we have that mike pence would ever stand up to the president . I mean, what kind of way are you anticipating he will dear leader this constitutional duty . Well, first of all, i mean, it is indicative of the fact that virtually everyone who works as i think elizabeth certainly knows better than i, everyone who works for donald trump sooner or later faces a moment where he is asking them to do something that they know they absolutely should not do. That is the nature of his interaction with other human beings since its all transactional for him. Mike pence has found a way to, you know, stand by all of these actions, as i said, like most of the Republican Party have allowed trump to steer them further and further and further into these unprecedented waters. As i like to say, every time he breaks a window the republicans in congress obediently sweep up the glass. Certainly no one has done that more diligently than mike pence who now faces kind of this ultimate choice. I assume he has no choice but to fulfill his constitutional duty, perhaps raging at it and abetting this trump fantasy that is convinced three quarters of Republican Voters that the election was stolen even though his, quote, evidence to that effect have been laughed out of courts across the country. John, the real issue is going forward. From this point forward are the kind of activities that the president has undertaken since the election now the norm for republicans . Is it expected that state officials will enable and support these kinds of efforts to undermine an election . What is the new baseline that he is establishing through the silence of mitch mcconnell, Kevin Mccarthy and everyone else about the tactics that he has employed. There is that political baseline but there is another baseline which i think is really frightening and, elizabeth, i know you have spoken out a lot about this, but its that radicalization and these Fringe Groups that really do see in the actions of the president a license to move forward. Thats right, erica. Its very concerning that were seeing large groups of people in our country be deceived by the media that they are consuming, deceived by the president and in the process of feeding on lies they are going through a radicalization experience. People can be radicalized and thats perfectly legal in this country, the government cant police thought, but the concern that i have is a small percentage of that could be recruited into violent extremism. There are estimates that we have about 75,000 to 100,000 violent White Supremacists sorry, White Supremacists extremists in our country and some portion of them would be prone to violence. In germany where they do better statistics its about half that are interested in committing acts of rye lens. Its important to understand the ideology here. The ideology behind a white supremacist it usually leads one to the conclusion that you must overthrow the u. S. Government so that you can establish a white nation state for the preservation of your race. So they are intentionally or inherently antigovernment in their mindset so if you have 75,000 to 100,000 people in this country that already have that bent and then you add to it a pretty significant number, maybe millions of people in the country that now believe that their government that there has been this massive fraud, that their voice is no longer heard, that things have been stolen from them they become much more susceptible from recruitment tactics from these hard core violent extremists. We are setting ourselves up for probably a generational fight with violent extremism in our country. Could i just add real quick, to elizabeths point, look at where they are look who they are accusing of fraud, big diverse cities. Atlanta, philadelphia, detroit and so forth. Not the suburbs where donald trump declined even more. If you look at where the litigation or his own rhetoric, they are basically saying this election was stolen by cities with large black populations which feeds directly into the kind of radicalization shes talk being. Thinly veiled to be sure, these undertones. Thank you both so much for being with us this morning. So this morning doctors and nurses in the fight of their lives. Are you okay . No. Its the worst i have ever seen. Ive been a nurse for who years. We have an inside look at the coronavirus front lines next. Including vera wang love, enchanted disney, endless brilliance and so much more. Shop online with a virtual consultant. Exclusively at zales. The diamond store. Youre choosing to get connected to the most to xfinity mobile, Reliable Network nationwide, now with 5g included. Discover how to save up to 400 a year with shared data starting at 15 a month, or get the lowest price for one line of unlimited. Come into your local xfinity store to make the most of your mobile experience. You can shop the latest phones, bring your own device, or trade in for extra savings. Stop in or book an appointment to shop safely with peace of mind at your local xfinity store. This morning more people are sick in the hospital with coronavirus in the United States than ever before. Icu beds are in short supply in some states, i mean, really, in california really short supply. Medical professionals being pushed to the brink. Cnns sara sidner has been on the front lines, really behind the front lines in Southern California to get a really remarkable look at the story. Why dont you tell us what youve learned, sara. Reporter good morning, john. You know, the numbers of coronavirus cases here in los angeles, the numbers of people being hospitalized frankly the numbers of people on the free ways are all telling us one thing, were failing each other and we are failing the people on the front lines who are battling this deadly virus. Nurse cliff resurrection is preparing for battle against the invisible enemy he and his colleagues have been fighting for months. Covid19 is now sending so many people to the hospital in california there are no more intensive care unit beds open here at harbor ucla medical center, so they have moved coronavirus patients into the emergency room. Some are so sick theyre hooked up to no less than eight ivs pumping in vital medicines to save or soothe them. Very exhausting, you know. Theres really like a never ending struggle. Its really tough right now. Before his shift started nurse resurrection learned one of his covid19 patients had died. The patient had no family visits and no breath left to say goodbye. He had no family, this patient had no family able to kind of see him and, you nknow reporter everyone here has been exposed to the trauma of loss over and over again, but the patients just keep coming. Whats it like right now for your staff . Its a disaster right now for our staff. The patients are extremely sick, this is a horrible disease. I hope i wont cry because its been ten months of this and we are inundated. Reporter they cant send patients out to other hospitals in Los Angeles County because in the most populated county in america there is not a single licensed icu bed open. All 2,500 are full. At last count all of Southern California had zero icu capacity. Zero. And there is no break. There is absolutely no break. And even during july it wasnt so bad, but this time were seeing large numbers. Reporter nancy blake says this is so much worse than the first two surges of the virus because now theyre getting their normal amount of emergency patients plus a large number of coronavirus cases. In the past two weeks california has seen a 63 increase in hospitalizations and in just one day around 40,000 new infections were reported. This as 98 of the state is under a stayathome order. That is clearly not what is happening. What effect does that have on your staff . Theyre angry because at the very beginning it was people were, you know, saying nurses are heroes and great job and now theyre not listening to us. Theyre not wearing their masks, theyre saying its a hoax and i have to say im a Glass Half Full kind of person. My glass is empty right now. Reporter you will remember new york at the beginning of the pandemic when they had refrigerated trucks because they needed space for bodies. Well, now at this hospital they have the same thing and this one has just been turned on. But amidst the signs of suffering there were signs of hope, Health Care Workers lining up to get their first dose of the vaccine, each sending a message as to why theyre getting inoculated. The first day they arrived the mood soared but soured by the afternoon as more patients crushed into the emergency room. Reporter are you okay . No. Its the worst i have ever seen. I have been a nurse for 40 years and its the worst i have ever seen and some of the things these nurses are seeing, where their patients are dying, there is no family members so theyre holding that patients hand, or they are on the other side of an ipad where the family is crying. Reporter and we heard some of what those nurses and doctors go through. We heard the guttural cries of a mother who had lost a son who was not killed by covid, but theyre dealing with these two major things, one, the people coming in for regular things like heart attacks and Car Accidents and those are very similar to how they normally are and then they are also dealing with a huge influx of very, very sick coronavirus patients. Its heartbreaking to watch the way that they have to deal with this and the families and the way that they are having to come home and tell their other family members that they have, again, lost someone right before the holidays. Erica . It is heartbreaking as you put it so well, sara. Were failing each other. Its so important that we continue to hear from people like nancy blake who has given 40 years of his life to helping people to see where she is at, where her glass is empty. This is the reality and, you know, if we cant all rally behind nancy, it really makes you wonder. Sara, thank you. Such an important piece as always. Appreciate t my friend. Joining me now dr. Jeffrey smith, the chief operating officer at Cedarssinai Medical Center in los angeles. Good to have you with us. I hope you could hear a little bit of saras piece there. I do think its so important to hear from people on the front lines for us to see and try to understand what youre going through, but i was struck by the fact that you said you are no longer on the front lines. At this point youre actually the final line. What do you mean by that . Well, really were depending on the public to take action, just as you heard in the previous story. Rate now our hospitals are nearing capacity and its becoming more and more difficult to care for those very sick patients, but this disease is preventable by wearing a mask, by distancing yourself from others and not congregating especially adds tempting as it is around the holidays. These numbers that were seeing, you know, we try really hard to connect those numbers with the people behind them because i think that helps send a message home. That being said when we hear there is zero percent capacity for the icus in Southern California, that should be a striking number in and of itself. Whats the reality nor you right now . Whats the reality this morning . So our usual capacity of icu beds is full, but we have successfully extended that by converting additional areas to have icu capacity and capabilities. Were redeploying nurses to participate in the care of those inpatients and for the doctors its really all hands on deck. All hands on deck. I know staffing is one of your most urgent needs. How long can you sustain these levels . Well, we have an incredibly strong and resilient staff, they are working very hard right now, many of them working additional shifts or being redeployed to areas where they have been trained to work, but not their typical work area. So were continuing to support them in just about any way that we can. We have brought in some traveling nurses, although that is difficult, more difficult than it had been earlier in the pandemic. Now that the whole country is really surging at the same time. So were determined to continue to care for patients, not just the Covid Patients, but the many other patients that we care for as a major academic medical center. Thats another part of it, too, right . We saw this in the beginning where initially people were told to stay home. Thats not the message anymore. The message is if you need care you should go to get the care but there is a real concern about what people will find when they go to the emergency room. Yes. You know, earlier on in the pandemic we saw that people were afraid and avoiding the emergency room for serious things, including heart attacks or strokes or things like that, that they could have benefited from earlier treatment. So certainly if its an urgency or emergency, please present to the emergency room. If not, please call your physician. Many of these things can be handled by a virtual visit or you can be directed to the proper site of care, but we dont want a second pandemic of untreated chronic disease, or an Urgent Medical problem that goes untreated. Do you think the message is getting out in los angeles, in Southern California, about just what a serious point we are at right now . Yeah, i think there is a lot of fatigue out there, that people are missing their families, especially now at the holiday time. I think that the growing economic and financial pressures on Small Businesses and restaurants presents another challenge thats potentially conflicting, but we are really at a critical point right now. Our hospitals are full or stretched thin, we are working hard to provide access to not only Covid Patients but those stroke patients, those trauma patients, transplant patients, heart attack patients. We need to be available. And so, yes, i think that people have heard the message, but it becomes harder to comply with these competing measures. Dr. Jeffrey smith, thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you for everything that you and your colleagues are doing on a daily basis. Thank you. Have a good day. You, too. So we look at this spread and we look at whats happening around the country, hospitalizations spiking, new cases, as we are looking at those numbers there is a lot more travel, too. Airports busier than theyve been in a long time. That story is next. Some things are good to know. Like where to find the cheapest gas in town and which supermarket gives you the most bang for your buck. Something else thats good to know . 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Reporter good morning, air kachlt you know, clearly plenty of people still traveling here even in spite of the cdc telling them not to and they are setting new records of the pandemic. The tsa says more than a Million People flew on friday, on saturday and then again on sunday. Nearly a million yesterday. Its that threeday streak that is so interesting, something we have not seen during the pandemic. That means about 3. 2 Million People flew between friday and sunday. This is crushing travel records of thanksgiving, although these numbers still about 40 of a year ago, that means plenty of people are staying home, but weve been talking to travelers who still have their reasons for getting out. Do you have any concerns or safety concerns . Im okay about it. I wore like two masks and everything, im trying to be six feet apart and everything. Im okay with t you know, just hoping and praying that nothing happens. Did you feel like you absolutely needed to be home for christmas, to go back for christmas . Yeah, because my grandparents they are alone over there so, you know, i feel bad theyre going to spend christmas alone. Id rather go with them, you know, spend christmas and new years with them. Reporter holiday travelers from the uk can still come here even in spite of that new coronavirus strain. The federal government has imposed no new restrictions on flights coming to the United States. The faa says it is monitoring the situation. Delta says it will test passengers as they arrive from london, but flights from england still coming here to Dulles International airport. John . You get a sense, pete, this is a developing situation and the u. S. May craft a different response over the coming days. Thanks so much for being with us. New this morning, 900 billion of government relief finally headed to struggling americans, but is even more needed . Thats next. Ear we got creative with our dollars. But with walmarts low prices, you still know how to do it up. And keep costs down. Lets end the year enjoying more. You are all i need baby baby to get by resso to help you remembermber commthat Liberty Mutualgia. Customizes your Home Insurance, heres one thatll really take you back. Wow whatd you get, ryan . Its customized Home Insurance from Liberty Mutual what does it do bud . It customizes our Home Insurance so we only pay for what we need and what did you get, mike . I got a bike. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Congress finally passed the 900 billion Coronavirus Relief package, it includes direct payments of up to 600 per adult and child, a 300 a week increase in Unemployment Benefits, 284 billion for Small Businesses, money for vaccines and an extension of the eviction moratorium. Joining me now Austan Goolsbee economics professor of he is the former chair of the economic advisers during the obama administration. Austan thanks for being with us. Whats the best part of this 900 billion bill . Well, the best part is they did something and you know we needed it. The virus continues to rage and that is the main thing driving the economy into this tough spot and so were getting a lot of money out the door and we will probably get it out the door quickly and some parts of this bill its going to the people who really need it and who are at high risk of permanent damage. Whats missing . There is a lot missing, too. Its a bit of a mess. I mean, the the wellremarkedon fact that states and cities are having their expenses go through the roof because of all the medical care and welfare and taking care of people who have lost their jobs, plus their revenues are being cut and they have balanced budget amendments, without any money to the states and cities youre going to see millions of people having to lose their jobs, theyre going to have to cut teachers and firefighters and police, and i think the second area that is missing is they got rid of the mandatory paid sick leave and the thing about that is the reason that we put that in is so that people dont have an incentive to cover up their symptoms because they cant afford to lose their job. So im a little nervous that that not being in it is going to contribute to the virus spreading more. One of the things that president elect biden has said is that this is a down payment. This is just the beginning. But as you sit here today, how can you be confident that there really will be anymore. Democrats will have a more splending majority in the house of representatives, there is no guarantee that they will control the senate, dwight the opposite is probably more likely, so how do you know you will get anything after january 20 . How do you know . You know, its going to be tough. Now, i dont think the the president elect is not wrong that this ought to just be the beginning. The main thing that should drive how much relief money we need is how well are we controlling the spread of the virus . The virus is the boss here on the economy as well as on the health. I think the facts on the ground have a way of opening the door to possibilities that maybe we dont see right now, and that is if the virus continues to rage like this out of control, theres going to be a lot of pain, theres going to be a lot of health pain, theres going to be a lot of economic pain across the country. Not just specialized in blue states or just in red states. So i do think that that opens the possibility that people look and say, wow, were going to need this, otherwise were going to have millions of Small Businesses shut down again. But its definitely a risk and certainly this summer and this fall have demonstrated that risky scenarios without a safety net are not congress special. So the enhanced extended Unemployment Benefits of 300 per week, which i imagine you are including there in the money getting to people who really need it in a way that they can use it, that runs out in march. And im just wondering where you think we will be in march. Is march a reasonable date to look at as a time when you will be able to reassess maybe things will be better. Look, i hope they will be better. It all hinges on can we get control of the spread of this disease. Certainly the thanksgiving holiday and now the Christmas Holiday are making us nervous that were going to continue to see these raging spikes, but if it was up to me there would be substantially more and more extended Unemployment Benefits for people who lost their jobs and cant find new ones. Maybe the economy will come back, youve seen in some other countries they get control of the virus and in kind of a rapid basis they get the spread to come down. If we could get a rapid decrease in the spread of that virus by the end of march, beginning of april, you could see some benefits. Now, if not then were going to be back in march and its going to be obvious that this wasnt enough for the unemployed, that the checks extended the moratorium on evictions, all of the things that we put in there were just bandaids, were just trying to hold the hold the line and keep floating until we can get the vaccine and get control of the virus and were going to have to see the political environment is certainly not very friendly or conducive to what needs to be done, it seems. Thanks so much for being with us this morning. I appreciate your time and expertise. We have new reporting this morning about the growing anxiety in the pentagon for the final 20 days of President Trumps 29 days of President Trumps time in office. Our coverage continues next. Good tuesday morning, everyone. Blood you are with us, im poppy harlow, jim sciutto has a welldeserved week off. This morning the race to try to understand a new coronavirus variant as vaccines are rolled out around the world. The good news is that the biontech ceo says hes, quote, confident that their vaccine with pfizer will protect against this mutation, but today both pfizer and moderna will still continue to do more testing on that. Still as this variant spreads at least 40 countries are now banning or restricting travel from the United Kingdom. The white house is considering requiring travelers from the uk to have proof of a negative covid test before they arrive here. That option is expected to be presented to the president today, but dr. Anthony fauci says the coronavirus variant may already be in this country. When you have this amount of spread within a place like the uk, that you really need to assume that its here already. It may not and certainly is not the dominant strain, but i would not be surprised a