Trump vetoes massive defense bill despite bipartisan support; Officials: second new Covid strain is “more transmissible”; Massacre survivors slam Trump’s pardons for Blackwater guards; Biden says he hasn’t been briefed on suspected Russian hack

The Lead with Jake Tapper

CNN

News

3.5 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2020

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Trump unleashes chaos with veto, pardons, stimulus deal objection; Trump does not take reporter questions on his way to Florida after vetoing defense spending bill; Warp Speed using Defense Production Act to get supplies necessary to expand vaccine production; Iraqi foreign minister: Trump’s Blackwater pardons did not consider seriousness of the crimes committed; Arizona rancher: border wall won’t make America more secure; Biden’s plans to stop construction on border wall may be costly and difficult; CNN checks on the progress on Trump’s controversial promise; Pres-elect Biden nominates Miguel Cardona as Education Secretary; DOD official: Biden’s remark that his team is not being briefed on many things is “patently false”; Biden says he hasn’t been briefed on suspected Russian hack To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is CNN breaking news.
0:03.8	Welcome to the lead. I'm Pamela Brown in for Jake Tapper and we begin with breaking news.
0:08.2	minutes ago, President Trump took another stunning step as he upends Washington and his final 28 days in office.
0:15.8	President Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed Congress with
0:20.5	wide bipartisan support. This is a $740 billion defense package
0:25.0	and it includes pay raises for soldiers, equipment modernization,
0:29.0	and provisions for increased cyber security.
0:31.0	A version of the bill has become law for 59 years, but in this
0:35.6	letter to Congress, President Trump claimed it is a quote gift to China and Russia.
0:41.0	And it is just the latest in a series of chaotic moves by President Trump as he
0:45.2	approaches the end of his presidency. Plus any moment President Trump could
0:49.6	leave for Marilago. The hope the president right now is so unpredictable,
0:53.4	that is still possible the trip could be canceled.
0:56.0	We will have to wait and see.
0:57.2	The president specifically mentioned in this letter
0:59.6	to Congress that he doesn't like that bill included, like that the bill included requiring the military to rename bases named
1:06.7	after Confederate soldiers writing I have been clear in my opposition to
1:11.0	politically motivated attempts like this to wash away history and to dishonor the
1:16.0	immense progress our country has fought for in realizing our founding principles.
1:21.5	I want to bring in CNN's Bill Mattingly.
1:24.0	Phil, this was a sweeping defense bill that overwhelmingly passed the Senate and the House.
1:29.6	What happens now?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from CNN, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of CNN and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.