Relenting after outrage over his threats in a video last week suddenly opposing the bill his own treasury secretary negotiated on his behalf. The bill they are now planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated. It really is a disgrace. That was then, this is now. His sudden week of threats did have a real impact. At least one week delay in enhanced Unemployment Benefits to millions of americans out of work. And a delay in those stimulus checks as well. The president s reversal on the bill comes with other largely unenforceable demands on congress, to remove critical foreign aid from bipartisan spending bills, and an investigation by both houses into his false claims of election fraud. Both going nowhere on capitol hill. While law makers deal with president trumps latest tirade delivered from his vacation retreat, president elect joe biden is meeting with National Security advisers and focusing on the remaining four unfilled cabinet slots. Hell be speaking publicly in bloomington later today. Joining to us talk about all of that nbcs Garrett Haake in West Palm Beach where the president is vacationing, Geoff Bennett in wilmington and kasie hunt. Up way too early. The president lost this battle and so did millions of americans who expected the 600 checks or who had their Unemployment Benefits momentarily lapse. Look, there is nothing in this bill signed by the president on sunday night that was not in the bill when he could have signed it on christmas eve. This was essentially several days long, anxietyinducing, episode that took money out of the pockets of Unemployed People by reducing the payments they will get and for nothing, a pointless exercise. It is clear the president was in touch with lawmakers likely to extract the promises congress will take various actions that he wants to see but none of those will affect the ultimate substance of this bill, if they happen at all. We had a president who spent the last several days at his golf course, we knew he was golfing with Lindsey GrahamChristmas Day, at dinner at the Trump International golf course. When he is here he is largely cut off from the rest of his staff, the rest of what remains of any guardrails around him and i think we saw some of the effects of that, in this weekend holdout that ultimately provi ld nothing but the bill he could have signed on christmas eve. And kasie, talk about what well see today first in the house, then what we can expect from Mitch Mcconnell and Chuck Schumer over in the senate. Thats the big question, right, andrea. We know House Democrats support spending more money on these relief checks to put them up to 2,000, which the president has suddenly said thats what he wanted to see and which ostensibly caused all of this drama over the weekend, but the big question is still Senate Republicans, many of them have been concerned how much money this bill was going to spend or thats what theyve said and reluctance to make the checks larger and the price tag of the overall bill higher. Democrats have to put pressure on mcconnell to get them to do what their republican president wants. Here was Chuck Schumer earlier today. Watch. Today i am telling donald trump dont just talk about it, act. These Senate Republicans have followed you through thick and thin. Get them now to act and support the 2,000 checks. And of course, andrea, republicans so focused and concerned about the two georgia runoff elections thats a big part of why mcconnell wanted to make sure the covid relief package got done before christmas, before they left town and before that january 5th runoff thats a critical date. So what the president did actually in many ways had the political effect of showing that it was democrats in fact who were interested in this 2,000 stimulus check, which is of course what many voters in georgia are demanding. Hes scrambled the politics of this for his own party in a way thats yet another headache for them in just the final weeks of his administration. Andrea . And geoff, all of this could well impact of course the man who will be worn in 23 days from now, joe biden the president elect wrestling with four unfilled seats, the attorney general the most important one. Does that appear likely this week as well as the possibility of him waiting until after the georgia runoffs if hes concerned putting someone in who might be more difficult to confirm if they dont win at least one of the runoffs . Its a great point you make. We could get that announcement as early as this week but im told the reason why joe biden hasnt announced his selection has less to do with the georgia runoffs and more to do with the fact he hasnt made up his mind. Nominating someone for that position he has to elevate someone who can restore public faith in that institution and who can also restore morale within it. The short list remains the same. Doug jones, the outgoing alabama senator who decades ago famously and successfully prosecuted the case against those kkk members, who attacked that Birmingham Church back in 1963, and killed those four young girls. Biden is someone who has known doug jones for a long time. They have a long working relationship. Weve loss malso got merritt ga snubbed by Mitch Mcconnell when former president barack obama tapped him for a Supreme Court seen, something as a unifying force. The downside, though, with elevating him, such that there is a downside, would be that he is viewed as being potentially too lenient to Law Enforcement interests by some civil rights advocates ive talked to and the other issue that if biden takes him off the d. C. Circuit court of appeals, he hases to nominate a replacement, and then third on the list, youve got sally yates, top choice among progressives and civil rights activists and advocates ive talked to. Shes getting lots of praise for things shes done in her past as a doj veteran, closing private prisons connected to the Justice Department, but because she was involved in the fbi investigation into the Trump Campaign that later turned into the overall russia investigation, she is widely viewed as being the hardest of the three to confirm. But im told when biden announces his pick for ag he could announce his pick or Deputy Attorney general and solicitor general at once. Peter bake earn you have he been writing about the last days of trump, attacking republicans, barely showing up to work but attacking the courts on twitter. This is unusual behavior to say the least. How concerned are people inside the white house about what hes doing and could still do in the next 22 1 2 days . Yes, youre right, not normal behavior. The at this stage of a presidency, a president is on the way, new president coming in, usually an effort to mend fences and burnish your legacy, but not to go to war with your own party and own Justice Department and Supreme Court nominees. What hes done here of course is simply try to grab attention for himself on legislation that he chose not to be a part of, even though it was endorsed by his own administration. Obviously picking a fight over the defense bill over an unrelated fight with trying to get the congress to use the defense bill to punish twitter and other social media organizations hes been unhappy with. And using pardons in these last few days to sort of demonstrate that he is still in control for the next 20some days pardoning a rose gallery of corrupt congressmen, convicted liars and war criminals convicted of killing women and children in iraq. This is his way of acting out and youre right, people around him in the white house, his advisers inside and outside the building are concerned. They see a spiraling situation, listening to fewer people and the only one he does want to listen to, he won an election, but he actually lost. Who do you think he was listening to in agreeing to finally sign the bills last night . Could it be that it was really becoming a problem for the georgia runoff races as well . Yes, it was. He saw Lindsey Graham in maralago. I think graham was trying to nudge him along. You can still fight for the issues youre raising like larger stimulus check and cutting some foreign aid, but youre not going to be able to do it in this bill. This bill passed by bipartisan majorities in both houses of congress. People have been cut off for Unemployment Benefits and other things were about to expire like eviction protection and so forth and the government would close down at midnight if he didnt sign. Lindsey graham and others, if colive to fight another day he put out a statement from the white house indicating suggesting he had somehow gotten concessions he didnt really get but as a facesaving way pretending he accomplished something that hasnt been accomplished. And of course, theres no evidence kasie hunt, got to him and tried to talk to him about vetoing the defense bill. Andrea the house is inned too, the senate tomorrow. This is something unprecedented and the president would have been the first president in many years to have never had a veto overridden but thats going to be the end of the road for that and he will join others who have had that happen. Theres overwhelming support for this bill and the president has harped on section 230 related to social Media Companies and that regulation. He brought that up again in the context of the covid relief bill and focused on but this president will leave office with his Republican Party saying no to him on this as well. Kasie, thanks to you. Well see you at 1 00 sitting in for chuck on mtv daily. Thanks for joining us, and happy holidays to all as well. Congressman Adam Kinzinger joins us now. With the stimulus vote this afternoon are you going to support the 2,000 in aid instead of the 600 that was already approved when the president finally signed the bill last night . I will. I heard good arguments and its necessary especially given the moment were in, should have been negotiated at the beginning. Thats kind of the moment where were at right now. Am i cutting out . It was just a little bit but lets keep going, make this work. Maybe he was watching you yesterday because you made a strong argument against him either vetoing the bill or sitting on the bill. At this stage how desperate the Economic Situation is for americans. His behavior has certainly been not just unprecedented and normbreaking but erratic. Yes, definitely been erratic at the end here. I think hes more focused on grievances than finishing out strong. The ndaa veto of that makes no sense but hopefully we override that. Section 230, if you have a real issue with section 230 thats fine but the defense bill isnt the place to deal with it. Thats through the energy and Commerce Committee and others. We have 20some days left, we have to do whats right and the bottom line we need to stand up for people hurting during covid and i think congress will do that today. How difficult has the president s behavior made the final weeks of this presidency for the Republican Leadership and for the rest of you members . Well its been difficult. Having to speak out is obviously not something you always want to do, but i made a commitment since i got into congress, always to do whats dealing with having to come back for a veto override on a really good defense bill, dealing with but you know, again, bottom line, most people get in politics to do the right thing. That includes me. Well get through it and move on. This country is stronger than and got a constitution with great guardrails. Thank you very much, congressman. Thanks for being with us today. We really appreciate it and well check back with you after that veto override vote, see what happens there. Sorry for the technical difficulties. Not at all. Always good to have you. And getting to california and those icus that are full, Health Officials there, the states largest city expecting a viral wildfire following the holidays. Plus investigators say that they have identified the nashville christmas bomber, but what was his motive . Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports. Stay with us. This is msnbc. Did you know you can go to libertymutual. Com to customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need . Really . I didnt aah ok. Im on vibrate. Aaah only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. If you have postmenopausal and a high risk for fracture, now might not be the best time to ask yourself, are my bones strong . life is full of make or break moments. Thats why its so important to help reduce your risk of fracture with prolia®. Only prolia® is proven to help strengthen and protect bones from fracture with 1 shot every 6 months. Do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. Serious allergic reactions like low blood pressure, trouble breathing, throat tightness, face, lip or tongue swelling, rash, itching or hives have happened. Tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone problems may happen. Or new or unusual pain in your hip, groin, or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. Speak to your doctor before stopping, skipping or delaying prolia®, as spine and other bone fractures have occurred. Prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium, serious infections, which could need hospitalization, skin problems, and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. Dont wait for a break, call your doctor today, and ask about prolia®. Nicoreyou get advice like smoking is freaking hard. Try hypnosis. Or. Quit cold turkey. Kidding me . instead, start small. With nicorette. Which can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette the we have to find just noSomething Else. It. Good luck what does that mean . We are doomed. [laughter] thats it. I figured it out were going to give togetherness. That sounds dumb. Were going to take all those Family Moments and package them. Hmm. [laughing] that works. As we now enter what dr. Fauci has called a quite troubling postholiday surge of covid19 cases, the virus is spreading beyond what some states medical systems can handle. Over the weekend the u. S. Topped more than 19 million confirmed cases of covid19, roughly the population of new york state and more than 330,000 americans have lost their lives to the virus. In california, the latest epicenter of this countrys outbreak, icus are running out of available beds before the anticipated post holiday surge hits. Joining me, Steve Patterson in los angeles. Steve, thanks for being with us. First of all, what are you hearing from doctors there and other front line workers . Reporter Health Officials in l. A. County say they are comparing this now to a viral wildfire that one out of every 95 residents on average has a case of covid that one person on average every ten minutes will die from the virus. Hospitals are completely overloaded at this point. Theyre scrambling to look for ways to build makeshift icu wor wards in places that have no business having makeshift icu wards, a shortage on oxygen and medication and the biggest bottleneck is shortage on staffing as Health Officials say were days away from rationing care in some places. I spoke to one doctor here in l. A. County, heres what he says its like in his hospital, as this surge continues to increase. Listen to this. The hospital is at capacity. We are a large Hospital Trauma Center but theres patients all over the hospital. Weve had to move expand our intensive care units to accommodate patients with covid and to move our knobcovid patients to other parts of the hospital to protect them and to have this surge on top of what were experiencing just before thanksgiving with the idea christmas and new years could bring more disease is just pretty daunting. Reporter this as hospitalizations are now expected to double here in l. A. County by the end of the week, and that does nothing to account for the surge that is expected to come from people traveling over the christmas holiday, because remember, were in something of a halo effect where that does not impact us until two to three weeks for now as the number is expected to increase in midjanuary, and then heavily spike in midfebruary. Andrea . Steve patterson in l. A. , a real crisis out there, thank you, steve. As those cases of covid19 are surging across the country, officials are raising concerns about that new strain of the virus. The race is on to vaccinate as Many Americans as possible but there have been hitches in production and distribution of the vaccines. Joining me is dr. Peter hotez codirector of the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for vaccine development. Well, doctor. Thanks for being with us. Dr. Fauci is again raising concerns about what he calls this postholiday surge upon the surge. What are you expecting to see in the crisis, lets say two weeks from now, as Steve Patterson was just saying . You know, andrea, were seeing so much transmission now, its hard to know what is due to a surge, what is not due to a surge. The numbers are extraordinary. Remember that 19 million cases, lets round to 20 million, thats an underestimate by a factor of four or five, so were looking at maybe 80 million to 100 million cases in the united states, getting towards a quarter of the u. S. Population being infected and remember wh