Of a Worldwide Travel ban and massive food shortages. The uk has been virtually cut off from the world, as nation after nation halts or restricts travel to and from britain because of the new covid19 variant. Many flights are now suspended and with the British Government tightening covid restrictions further, people in the uk and beyond are scrambling to reach their loved ones with the Christmas Holiday just days away. Meanwhile in the United States, its the relief so Many Americans have been waiting on for months. After weeks of haggling and bickering, congress has reached a deal on a covid relief package, totalling 900 billion and well look at the most significant parts of that plan later this hour. Lets start with the situation in the uk. Cnns Nic Robertson joins us live from london. Weve seen those chaotic scenes coming out of london as people try to get out before the lockdown came into place. Flights have been cancelled to the uk to stop the spread of that variant. And now were learning that france has imposed a 48hour truck freeze. Tell us about the Immediate Impact. Reporter its a big concern for the British Government. One of the central reasons why Boris Johnson will be holding that important Cabinet Meeting today, with top cabinet officials and chief advisers, because fresh food and produce, frozen food and produce and items destined for british factories come in daily across the channel crossings, about 10,000 trucks cross every day. Now, the uk can survive obviously without some of those products coming across the border, the things that would come across this time of the year in bulk would be brussel sprouts, cabbages, those sorts of things. But the idea that the uk can suddenly, without warning, be shut off from those Food Products and many medical products, of course, coming in from the continent, theyre just naturally over the past number of decades flow into the country. Thats a major concern. It certainly will be causing concern in government and in the population. People here have been very disconcerted to say the least by the sudden imposition of a new tier of restrictions and the Prime Minister just in the past couple of days, over the weekend, telling the country that the christmas he had promised them where they could have three different households in one household for christmas is no longer an option. So the Immediate Impact of france not allowing trucks to cross through the channel tunnel and cross for the next 48 hours is of immediate concern. The government is going to want to figure out how it can mitigate against what is happening against an unexpected circumstance. The Prime Minister will be meeting with his cabinet and holding that meeting. Are you expecting any further announcements in relation to further restrictions, if thats even possible in the uk . Reporter we heard overnight from the ministry of transport that add vised truckers to avoid going to kent, the county where dover is, and some of the other channel crossings. Because the government is very concerned about, you know, the backlog of trucks that will just pile up in long lines of traffic on the major highways there, because of stockpiling there were lines of traffic five miles and longer. So what we would expect to come out of this i think is the Prime Minister essentially to take stock, look at remedies, and, you know, one would expect him or others in the cabinet to try to reassure people in the United Kingdom that this is a temporary glitch that theyre working with their neighbors to get around this. Of course, this falls at a time when britain is negotiating a very tough brexit deal with eu negotiators. Theres a lot going on, anna. Nic robertson joining us from outside 10 downing street in london. Good to see you. Many thanks. Joining me now is an Infectious Disease and Global Health expert at the university of oxford. Good to see you. Tell me, how concerned are you about this variant spreading in the uk . Well, theres a lot we dont know about this variant, but it certain hi appears to be the case. Theres been a rapid rise in cases in and around london in recent days and weeks. That appears to be driven be i this new varniant. Were hearing it may be up to 70 more transmisible and more infectious than the presiding variants that weve been seeing. Even if its not causing more severe disease or more deadly and thats our understanding, if it were to spread more quickly, that is a cause for concern. Thats why were seeing such aggressive action both been the country and the new lockdowns and hopefully some of these temporary border measures until we can learn more. Peter, we have seen other cases of this mutation pop up in other countries. But i guess why the level of alarm in the United Kingdom . You know, mutations are a normal part of the life of a virus. Viruses normally evolve, especially when theyre in a new host, in this case humans. So there are hundreds of variants that have been being monitored. The reason for concern with this one is because of the potential association of spreading much more quickly, that were seeing it become the dominant strain in some areas. And theres some evidence that it may spread more quickly. Another thing to note, theres a variant in south africa end independeibl independeibl independent of the one here in the uk, that appears to be spreading more quickly. Theres a lot more research that needs to be done how this particular variant at this stage, i think caution is warranted. Of course. The mutation of viruses is not uncommon, but as you said, its highly infectious nature of this variant that is causing alarm. Does it come down to Human Behavior or the variant itself . It could be a combination. So if it could be that you have a new variant and because of Human Behavior, because of perhaps certain super spreader type events, variant spreads more quickly but the behavior of the virus may not be that different. Thats probably not enough to explain the rise of this particular variant, but its something that needs to be ruled out. Peter, weve seen these scenes coming out of london, of people fleeing the capital before that lockdown came into effect. People cramming onto trains, lines up at airports. Surely that is a recipe for disaster in spreading this variant around the country and possibly around the globe. Yeah, its really unfortunate those scenes of thousands of people fleeing london just before the new restrictions came into force a couple of days ago. And theres a real risk that that could be a recipe for spread thing virus all around the country, the same reason were closing off our International Borders are being closed off. I fear that we might see rises of this variant in other parts of the country. Peter drobac joining us from oxford in england. Good to see you. Thank you for your insight. We appreciate it. Thank you. Millions more doses of covid19 vaccine are making their way to states around the United States. Modernas vaccine is the second to get emergency use authorization. Carriers are delivering the supply to thousands of locations, hours from now americans should start getting the shots. Pete is in memphis, tennessee, with details on how the moderna rollout will compare to the one weve already seen with the Pfizer Biontech vaccine. Reporter two truckfuls of the Moderna Vaccine came straight here just over the state line in mississippi. Now the Moderna Vaccine is going out to 3,000 locations across the country. Those are places like hospitals, pharmacies, cvs and walgreens. The deliveries began on monday morning. This rollout, about four times as large as the initial pfizer rollout of last week. The Moderna Vaccine has a bit of an advantage over the Pfizer Vaccine in that it doesnt need to be stored in super cold temperatures. A regular refrigerator will be fine in this case. So that opened this up to the Rural Communities without deep freezers. Fedex says that difference does not change how it will handle this. It doesnt matter whether you have to be ultracold or not. Our job is to get the package from point a to point b as expeditiously and safely as we can. And to deliver it to those that are going toed a minister it. Reporter 6 million moderna doses are going out right now. The department of health and Human Services says that means about 20 Million People could be vaccinated by the end of this month. You have to remember, this is a remarkable achievement. We are seeing the rollout of two coronavirus vaccines in roughly the plan of a week. Pete monteen, cnn, memphis, tennessee. Lawmakers with a deal, ahead what the bill includes. 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The agreement comes after several days of frenzied negotiations and just hours before the government would have had to shut down without additional funding. The measure includes stimulus payments to individuals and a boost in Unemployment Benefits. But Democratic Leaders still say more will be needed to revive the economy ravaged by the pandemic. We consider this a first step and that, again, more needs to be done. Were so excited that will be happening. Cnns manu raju has more. Reporter congressional leaders, after months of division and stalemate, reached a deal that could give relief to americans who are struggling in the middle of this pandemic. 900 billion, one of the biggest in american history, reached after members of congress spent days in tough negotiations, cutting a deal and they really have only been discussing this for a matter of days, because for months, they were at loggerheads, they werent talking for a period of time, even as this crisis continued to rip through the United States. But nevertheless, the moment we expect this proposal to pass, possibly both chambers as soon as monday and the president would have a decision to make whether to sign this into law. Well, this plan includes more than 300 billion for Small Businesses to apply for emergency loans. It provides relief for farmers and others who have been hit hard from this pandemic. Also people unemployed and getting jobless benefits and seeing those benefits expire. It would extend those benefits and include 300 a week for people starting december 27 add a onetime direct payment for individuals up to 600, assuming they make less than 75,000 a year, and a family of four could get up to 2400. This proposal also is important for vaccine distribution. This comes a t a critical time states and cities have been asking for more funds to help so that voters in their state are inoculated. We expect that to include billions more to help with that. This, of course, came after both sides had to drop some key sticking points, key provisions they were looking for. One, state and local aid. Democrats have wanted hundreds of billions to states and cities. They dropped that because republicans pushed back. Republicans asked for a big liability shield for businesses and others that opened up during the pandemic. The democrats viewed that as a way to protect corporations who could be sued. That was put aside. Those fight also be punted to the new year. Already democrats are having to talk about doing a big package when joe biden becomes president january 20th. So this fight will be delayed until then. This was a hardfought battle. Ultimately a deal will be reached. We expect it to be approved in a matter of days, money getting into the pockets of americans. Well see if its enough. Cnns correspondent joins us from johannesburg with more. As manu said, it was a hardfought battle but finally Congress Passed this stimulus deal. What details are you learning . Reporter yeah, exactly. Look, this has been months in the making and there have been so many sticking points. But as manu says, the big ticket items, the important priority items have been included under this bipartisan deal of 900 billion. I have to take a step back and remind you that the initial number that democrats was after was around 2 trillion. Then the treasury secretary came back with 1. 8 trillion. That was rejected by democrats. Now we have a whittled down package, but at least its been dined before the holiday season. There were just so many things at stake here. The Unemployment Benefits are 300 extra per week for unemployed americans. That direct check of 600 for both adults and a child. Then, again, is much smaller we had discussing of 1,200. So all of these parts, the items are now main features. What has not been included, however, Liability Protection for businesses. Republicans really wanted this in the bill. That has been excluded, because it was a sticking point. And then for democrats, they were really after states and local aid. That has also been removed. I want you to take a listen to what Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell said after the tough negotiations, which saw government extend its deadline from monday until today. Take a look. We can file a report that our nation has needed for a very long time. Fo more help is on the way. It will be another major rescue package for the american people. As our citizens continue battling the coronavirus this holiday season, and they will not be fighting alone. Reporter its been interesting to see how the negotiations have been ongoing. One of the other sticking points is republicans wanted to put limits on Federal Reserve emergency loan. But there is consensus in the sense of urgency here, because you have coronavirus cases rising. You have localized lockdowns and a huge impact on the economy going forward. Now, with new strains emerging around the world, that is adding more uncertainty. But what this does now is it protects around 12 million americans from falling out of Unemployment Benefits the day after christmas and protects people facing eviction in january. Were talking about almost 5 Million People. Vaccine distribution money has been allocated. Money for nutrition and ensuring schools are propped up, as well. So the big message from democrats is that this is actually the starting point. Remember, the 900 billion is the floor, not the ceiling of a potential relief package. So more negotiation is certainly to come. The big unknown again. Whos going to lead the senate and how easily can you pass through another stimulus package in 2021 program. So i think this is definitely going to be one to watch. Many people have had a lot of fatigue in seeing the stalemate. But weve got a bipartisan bill to pass through the house floor, then the senate, and a final signature from