Hand trump the first and only veto override of his presidency . Also this morning, we are one week away from the pivotal Georgia SenateRunoff Elections. More than 2 million votes have already been cast, and the two Democratic Candidates are now sounding the alarm about running low on funds. The question is, will big spending pay off in next weeks races . Its way too early for this. Good morning and welcome to way too early, the show that tried to veto the alarm clock this morning but was overridden. I am kasie hunt on this tuesday, december 29th. Well start with the news. It is now up to the senate, after the house passed a bill yesterday that would increase Coronavirus Relief checks to 2,000 for many americans. 44 republicans, along with the vast majority of democrats, approved the legislation. 275134, narrowly reaching the twothirds majority that the bill needed to pass. The legislation would increase the 600 direct payments to 2,000 for americans who earned less than 75,000 last year. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer says he will try to pass the bill by unanimous consent today, but at this point, its unclear whether Senate Republicans will get on board with the measure. Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell has declined to publicly address how he plans to handle the issue. At least one senate republican, marco rubio, has voiced support for the increased payments, tweeting last night, i am concerned about the debt, but working families have been hurt badly by the pandemic. This is why i supported 600 direct payments to working families, and if given the chance, will vote to increase the amount. As for when people may start to see those checks in the mail, it is likely to happen starting early next week. A senior treasury official tells nbc news the government still plans to start issuing 600 checks via direct deposit by the end of the week, but they likely wont reach anyones bank account until the following week, due to the holiday. Those without direct deposit are, of course, going to have to wait longer. Now, if the senate does pass the 2,000 relief checks, the treasury says anyone who already got 600 will simply get a second check. Georgia voters, meanwhile, are turning out with one week to go in those highstakes senate runoffs. According to the u. S. Elections project, more than 2. 1 million georgians have already voted before the january 5th election. That is roughly 27 of registered voters, and that is on par with 2020 president ial election numbers. Thats huge in a runoff. Large metro democraticrun counties lead the early vote count, while rural republican strongholds, including the district where trump plans to Campaign Next week, are lagging. Despite raising a combined total of more than 200 million in the final stretch of their respective races, democrats jon ossoff and Raphael Warnock are warning of dwindling grassroots funds. Nbc news reports that Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer is, quote, pessimistic about the two democrats chances to win and doesnt want to ruin donor relationships by asking for more money. His office denied that report. Joining us now to talk more about all this, Senior Writer at politico and coauthor of the playbook, jake sherman, also an msnbc political contributor. Jake, i do want to talk about georgia, but lets start with the stimulus checks, because yet another example of President Trump putting Senate Republicans in a tough spot. They are in large part why these checks came out at 600. They were worried about spending too much money. But now theyre in a position where theyre the ones that are going to have to stand up and object to it. And if they dont, it seems to me there could be a pretty considerable number who actually vote with President Trump. Whats your reporting say at this point about how this is all going to play out . Well, its a really good question, kasie. Im trying to figure that out at the moment right now. Marco rubio is really the only one and you showed this at the top hes the only one thats saying right now that hes going to be for these checks. Josh hawley of missouris going to be for the checks as well. Its tough to know how it will play out. Then you have Bernie Sanders saying he will hold up the senate for days in order to guarantee a 2,000 check vote in the coming days. He will hold the senate in session until new years day. Obviously, something that nobody wants. So, well have to see how Mitch Mcconnell handles it. I mean, i do think that somebody will object to this. I dont think that people really care much about the president right now, considering that almost all of his allies voted against the 2,000 checks in the house last night, which was a pretty stunning result at least i thought it was. And Senate Republicans are going to look to the house to see how they voted. They were hoping for a clear sign one way or the other from house republicans, and it looks like this is a clear sign that republicans, generally speaking, are against these 2,000 checks, but i really dont have a good sense of how it would go if it came to a vote. Obviously, it would need 60. So 12 republicans would have to join with all the democrats. So, i mean, the one question i really have here is, if youre Kelly Loeffler or david perdue, what do you do . And you know, that impacts Mitch Mcconnells thinking, obviously, because all hes focused on right now is keeping that senate majority. I mean, if this were to come to a vote, seems to me it would be really hard for them to vote against it. What do you think the calculation is . Theyd have to vote for it, i think. I think youre right. I think that with the president out there and listen, their only hope in this election, or their big hope in this election is to get the base out, and the base is with the president , and the president is for 2,000 checks. I think thats the reality, and i think free money is in vogue right now and deficit concerns are not. So, i think its as simple as that, kasie. And i think its an easy proposition. It sounds pretty nice, 2,000 checks sounds pretty nice, and i think thats as simple as it is right now. Yeah, plus, people are really hurting. Jake, whats your sense of where things do stand . I mean, obviously, Chuck Schumer raised a lot of money, spent a lot of money in the senate elections, didnt have a ton to show for it. Its interesting to me that, suddenly, he is reluctant to try and ask people again to help in georgia. But it does seem to be that, at least republicans that im talking to are starting to become fairly confident that theyre going to hold on here. Democrats, as we noted, a little bit less confidence theyll be able to pull it out. Whats your sense of where this race stands right now . So, kasie, i think the biden vote in the president ial election in georgia was mostly an antitrump vote. I think there were a lot of republicans who voted for biden just out of distaste for the president. And everybody in both parties, advisers and experts in both parties, think that it will snap back to its natural tendencies, which is, georgias a republican state. Its definitely getting more blue and more moderate, but its still a republican state, and its going to snap back to its natural tendencies. And ive had this idea rattling around in my head. I havent put it on paper. But Chuck Schumers taking the opposite tack here, which is, he talked a lot about winning the senate in november. He didnt win the senate. Hes being very quiet right now. I think that thats because its a lot less certain, i think. He has to set reality for democratic donors. And remember, Chuck Schumer is in cycle. Hes up for election in 2022, so he has to keep his head down and think about his own personal politics as well. And the reality is, they completely misset expectations in the downballot races here in the 2020 election. Politicos jake sherman, thank you so much, my friend. Always good to see you. Thank you. Next up, investigators are still searching for a possible motive in the Christmas Day explosion in downtown nashville. While the fbi was able to quickly identify the suspect as 63yearold anthony warner, a motive for the attack may not become clear for weeks. With the help of new Police Body Cam footage, investigators are trying to develop a comprehensive timeline leading up to the completion. People who knew the aapparently suicide bomber described him to nbc news as a loner who had recently retired as an Information Technology consultant. Clues indicate he didnt intend to survive the blast. After recently giving away his car and his home, telling the recipient that he had cancer. The Associated Press reports that in the days leading up to the explosion, the suspect told a neighbor that, quote, the world is never going to forget me. Hmm. President trump has yet to comment publicly on the Christmas Day explosion in nashville. According to the tennessee governors office, trump has offered resources and support, but the president remains at his florida resort, spending most days golfing. Meanwhile, heres what president elect joe biden had to say yesterday. This bombing was a reminder of the destructive power of an individual or a small group can muster and the need for continuing vigilance across the board. I want to thank the Police Department in nashville, and particularly those five Police Officers who worked so quickly to evacuate the area before the explosion occurred, risking their own lives. Those officers, of course, being hailed as heroes. Still ahead here, congressman Willie Gohmert and other republicans file another lastditch legal effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. And later, with less than a month until inauguration day, president elect biden accuses some of trumps political appointees of obstructing the transition process. Well have those stories and much more. L have those stories d much more. Trelegy for copd. Birds flyin high, you know how i feel. Breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. Its a new dawn. If youve been taking copd sitting down, its time to make a stand. Start a new day with trelegy. No oncedaily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. With three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. It also helps prevent future flareups. Trelegy wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. Take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. Ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy. And save at trelegy. Com. Ing gain flings, ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy. Their laundry smells more amazing than ever. Ah, honey isnt that the dogs towel . Hey, me towel su towel. Theres more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze odor remover in every fling. Gain. Seriously good scent. Love the scent of gain flings . Then youll swoon for long lasting gain scent beads. Off the play action. Hit as he throws, able to complete. Its diggs and taillights time diggs is looking back, touchdown and he stumbles into there he goes time now for sports. Buffalos receiver, stefon diggs, scoring on a 50yard pass thrown by quarterback josh allen, as the bills show the patriots that they are the new kings of the afc east on the final monday night football of the regular season. Just took getting tom brady out of boston. Allen tossed four touchdowns in the game, three of them hauled in by diggs. With his performance, allen sets a pair of singleseason franchise records now with 34 touchdown passes, after logging his eighth 300yard game. One week after clinching the division, the bills 389 victory last night marks the first time in two decades that an afc east team has swept new england in a season. Wonder why. While the bills are now just competing for postseason positioning, the rams have a playoff berth at stake as we head into the final week of the regular season. But theyll have to take on the cardinals this sunday without starting quarterback jared goff, whos been ruled out after undergoing surgery to stabilize a broken right thumb yesterday. Under center for l. A. Will be backup john wofford, who has yet to appear in an nfl game since going undrafted out of wake forest in 2018. In order to make the playoffs, the rams have to defeat the cardinals or rely on the packers to beat the bears. Meanwhile, the Washington Football Team looking to clinch the nfc east with a win against division rival philadelphia, has released former firstround pick dwayne haskins. Once viewed as the football teams future franchise quarterback, the move caps a stunning downfall in haskins brief tenure in washington. He started the season as a starter but was demoted to third string before regaining the starting job because of others injuries. After a loss in week 15, haskins was photographed partying maskless. Stripped of his captaincy and reportedly fined 40,000 before being benched again after a poor showing in week 16. Lets turn now to the nba and trouble for the Memphis Grizzlies after star point guard john morant left the court in a wheelchair during the Second Quarter of last nights 116111 overtime win against the nets. Suffering an apparent ankle injury. Espn reports xrays revealed no fracture and that morant is expected to under go an mri today. We hope he gets better soon. And potentially major moves in the mlb offseason that could bolster san diegos starting rotation. Espn reports the padres are now on the verge of a deal to acquire star righty pitcher yu darvish from the chicago cubs. That news follows reports on sunday that the padres are also finalizing a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for 2019 cy young winner blake snell. Still ahead, with coronavirus cases surging across the country, the tsa just reported the busiest day for u. S. Airports since midmarch. What that means for infection rates. Well be back in just a moment. Rates. Well be back in just a moment age is just a number. And mines unlisted. Try boost® high protein. With 20 grams of protein for Muscle Health versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. And now enjoy boost® high protein in cafe mocha flavor. So get relief fast. Only tylenol rapid release gels have laserdrilled holes. They release medicine fast for fast pain relief. Tylenol rapid release gels. burke stomer happy anniversary. They release medicine fast for fast pain relief. customer for what . burke every year youre with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. 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However, the tsa has been facing staffing shortages due to the number of employees who are getting infected with covid. As of monday, 743 of their workers had active cases of the coronavirus, and many of the infections were contracted not when the employee was on the job, but when they were off the clock. Really troubling community spread. Meanwhile, Biotech Company novavax has entered a final phase three trial of its vaccine in the United States and mexico. The twodose vaccine works differently from those from pfizer and moderna, by producing viral proteins and an immuneboosting compound. The novavax vaccine also must be refrigerated, but it doesnt require those incredibly low freezing temperatures, making it the easiest vaccine so far to store and transport. Early phases