Some Republicans express outrage at Trump's Defense Bill veto

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report" December 28, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR (on camera): Hi, Emily. I think that was Greg
Gutfeld dancing there, thank you. Good evening. Welcome to watching, I'm
Bret Baier.

Breaking tonight, just moments ago, the House voted to give struggling
Americans $2,000 checks to replace the $600 relief checks. The president
signed into law late Sunday after leaving many wondering what he would do.
The House is also after that vote to provide the $2,000 is also now working
towards overriding the president's veto of the National Defense
Authorization Act. The Democrats are depending on Republican cooperation to
accomplish both.

We have Fox team coverage, Rich Edson with the presidential wish list for
cuts from Congress. But begin with Chief Congressional Correspondent Mike
Emanuel in the latest action on Capitol Hill moments ago. Good evening,
Mike.

MIKE EMANUEL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on
camera): Yes, Bret. Good evening to you. The vote on those COVID stimulus
checks wrapping up moments ago 275 in favor to 134 against. The politics of
it fascinating with President Trump and top congressional Democrats all
pushing to get this done. To this point, Senate Republicans appear to be
what could hold Americans back from getting more help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Every Senate Democrat is for it. But
unfortunately, we don't have the Republicans on board. Today I am telling
Donald Trump don't just talk about it, act.

EMANUEL (voice over): Some Senate Republicans sound skeptical about
spending more at this point.

How can Republicans vote against more aid when millions of Americans are
still unemployed through no fault of their own?

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): Yes, because it's terribly untargeted, right? Why
would we be sending $2,000 to people with a six-figure income who've had no
suspension, no reduction of their income at all.

EMANUEL: But House Democrat says this is about helping those really in
need.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): It is not for the wealthy. This will be for
individuals of $75,000 or less. So yes, we absolutely need to do that.

EMANUEL: Some Republicans are calling for cuts elsewhere, or at least want
to read the fine print.

REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): I am open to the $2,000 checks. That is not the
only aspect of the bill Nancy Pelosi is bringing to the floor today. She is
well known for loading it up with partisan provisions.

EMANUEL: There's also the issue of President Trump's veto of the $740
billion National Defense Authorization Act. It passed the House and Senate
with a veto proof majority. Now a national security Republican is
encouraging his colleagues to vote to override.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): This is a great bill, this goes after China,
Russia does a lot to shore up our cyber defenses, which as we've seen are
extremely vulnerable. To sustain the President's veto after you voted for
this bill, I just don't understand.

EMANUEL: But some on the progressive left say that is where spending should
be cut.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): We can't find money to get $2,000 into the pockets
of Americans, the priorities are wrong. And so, I'm not going to vote to
override his veto.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL (on camera): The final vote on the defense bill could be close.
Some Republicans have signaled that while they voted for the bill, they may
side with the president now. That vote could wrap up as soon as later this
hour, Bret.

BAIER: And if it does, we'll bring you back for breaking news. Mike,
thanks.

At the 11th hour as we mentioned, President Trump did sign the COVID relief
government funding bill, while at the same time demanding Congress remove
what he calls unnecessary spending items. Items like millions of dollars to
count fish and to research the impact of downed trees.

Correspondent Rich Edson has details from West Palm Beach, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Days after urging
Congress to make major changes, President Trump signed it anyway. A massive
spending bill designed to address the pandemic and avoid an approaching
government shutdown.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am asking Congress to amend
this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a
couple.

EDSON: The president says he also signed the bill, "With a strong message
that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed. I will
send back to Congress a redlined version item by item."

The president has previously singled out $40 million for the Kennedy
Center, one billion for the Smithsonian Institution, $154 million for the
National Gallery of Art and more for fish management, fighting invasive
species, wildlife data, technology for chicken production and foreign aid.

All part of the annual government funding bill; the Democrats, Republicans
and the administration took months to negotiate. Congress would need to
approve any cuts. The president signed the massive bill from his Mar-a-Lago
resort that was also focused on his return to the capital city. Tweeting
"See you in Washington, D.C. on January 6th. Don't miss it. Information to
follow!"

The president's supporters are planning a rally in Washington, the same day
Congress meets to formally count the electoral votes from the November
presidential election.

As set out in the Constitution, some Republicans may object to those
results. Other say, the party needs to move on.

KINZIGER: I'm concerned to an extent about January 6th, because if you
convince people that -- you know, Congress can change a legitimate
election, you could see people being driven to violence.

EDSON: If a member of the House and Senate object to a state's electoral
account, that would trigger a debate and vote on whether to exclude those
states' electors. The measure would have to pass in the House and Senate to
successfully deny those electoral votes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EDSON (on camera): Vice President Mike Pence will preside over that joint
session of Congress which has largely been a ceremonial role. Though now,
several Republicans have filed suit to give Pence the authority to choose
pro-Trump electors instead of the certified Biden ones. Legal experts have
said that the challenge is unlikely to succeed, Bret.

BAIER: Rich Edson in West Palm Beach, Florida. Rich, thanks.

The COVID relief payments help send all three major stock indices to record
high closes today. The Dow gaining 204, the S&P 500 jumped 32, the NASDAQ
finished ahead 95.

President-Elect Joe Biden took part in the national security and foreign
policy transition briefing today. Afterwards, Biden said many national
security agencies had been hollowed out and his transition team he said is
not getting the needed information. He called it "Nothing short of
irresponsibility."

Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich joins us from Wilmington with the latest.
Good evening, Jacqui.

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good evening,
Bret. This was a warning President-Elect Biden's team is not getting what
it needs. His central message was the Trump administration left the country
exposed citing disrepair of international alliances and absence from key
institutions, weakening national security and foreign policy. Biden cited
the SolarWind's hack as one example of a challenge his administration will
inherit, the scope of which they're still figuring out.

And he specifically called out the Office of Management and Budget and
Department of Defense saying political leadership obstructed his incoming
administration, leaving a potential window of confusion, our adversaries
could exploit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've encountered
roadblocks on the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the
Office of Management and Budget.

Right now, we just aren't getting all the information that we need for the
ongoing -- outgoing and from the outgoing administration in key massive
security areas. It's nothing short in my view of irresponsibility.

HEINRICH (voice over): Biden also praised career agency officials who
facilitated his team's work so far, including those at FEMA who are
coordinating vaccine distribution.

But Biden made no mention of the pandemic relief and spending bill
President Trump signed into law last night following pressure this weekend
from lawmakers and from Biden. But he did voice support on his way out the
door for a new bill the House passed tonight over $2,000 direct payments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you support the $2,000 direct payment, sir?

BIDEN: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH (on camera): There was no Q&A with reporters. However, we did
learn tonight vice President-Elect Kamala Harris and her husband will be
receiving the COVID-19 vaccine tomorrow. Harris will receive hers on
camera, Bret.

BAIER: Jacqui, thank you.

Authorities have identified the man believed to be behind the Christmas Day
suicide bombing in Nashville, Tennessee. The motive for that attack is
under investigation, though some officials are admitting they may never
know. Senior Correspondent Mike Tobin is following this story from
Nashville.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Surveillance video
captures the moment an R.V. explodes downtown Nashville Christmas morning.
Moments earlier, a police officer responding to the warning from speakers
in the vehicle takes part in the evacuation. When the blast hits the spot
where he stood, it showered with debris.

JAMES WELLS, METRO NASHVILLE POLICE OFFICER: I was literally getting ready
to walk back toward that R.V. and you watch the video, you can see that
moment of clarity for me when I heard God say go and check on topping.

TOBIN: After a warning from cops, Jeffrey Rasmussen and his family escaped
as the blast shook his family car.

JEFFREY RASMUSSEN, ESCAPED EXPLOSION: The way I see it like -- I mean, two
angels showed up on our doorstep Christmas morning and happened to be in
police officers' uniform.

TOBIN: Not everyone got out of the blast zone in time. The only one killed
was the bomber himself identified through DNA analysis as 63-year-old
Anthony Quinn Warner of Antioch, Tennessee. The bomb was parked at the AT&T
building. Investigators say Warner's late father worked for AT&T.

Reports quote an unnamed investigator saying they're looking at paranoia
over 5G technology as a motive, but nothing concrete as to why.

DAVID RAUSCH, TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: The definition for
domestic terrorism, we haven't met yet. Trying to determine if there's an
ideology that this person was trying to push by their act of violence. And
so, at this point, that question has not been answered.

TOBIN: One neighbor told The Associated Press Warner told him that
Nashville and the world would never forget him. Other said they never heard
an ideology from Warner but didn't know him well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was just a loner. (INAUDIBLE) anything like that
would come out of him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wave to people, you know, but he just never got --
not a freely willy buddy, he never talked to anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOBIN: Physical evidence gathered from the scene is being analyzed to
determine what the bomb was made up. Police say Warner was not on their
radar. All that shows up on his record is marijuana possession for resale
from back in 1978, Bret.

BAIER: Mike Tobin live in Nashville. Mike, thanks.

Outside of Nashville, Rutherford deputies arrested a man who they say drove
a white box truck that was blaring a similar message as the R.V. that
exploded on Christmas Day. Multiple agencies surrounded that truck before
sending a robot in to check for explosives. None were found.

James Turgeon was charged with two counts of felony filing a false report
and one count of tampering with evidence.

Nearly 1.3 million people went through U.S. airport checkpoints on Sunday,
the highest one day total in more than nine months despite warnings that
travel will lead to more cases of COVID-19.

This as California's governor comes to grips with the failure as cases in
his state surge despite one of the strictest lockdowns in the country.

National correspondent William La Jeunesse has our report from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): The bottom line is if we don't act now, our
hospital system will be overwhelmed.

WILLIAM LA JEUNESSE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over):
That was Governor Gavin Newsom three weeks ago. Today, however, hospitals
in much of the state remain overflowing.

NEWSOM: It is clear and understandable that it's likely those state
homeowners will be extended.

LA JEUNESSE: Once praised for early lockdown measures. Today, California
has the nation's highest infection ratio, prompting some to ask what went
wrong.

DR. CHRISTOPHER TAICHER, EMERGENCY MEDICINE: I had 90 patients under my
care at one given time, ran upwards of 20 cardiac arrests. Having to spread
the work, having to spread our staff thin is one of the greatest challenges
that's happening.

LA JEUNESSE: With schools closed and kids at home, hospitals cannot find
the nurses to handle the surge. Vaccines are rolling out but only 10
million so far, half as fast as hoped by year's end.

DR. VANESSA WALKER, CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE: It's really up to the public
and what they're going to do over the next couple of weeks as to whether or
not we're going to push our healthcare staff to potentially dangerous
levels.

LA JEUNESSE: But with a million Americans flying every day, many believe
things will only get worse.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS
DISEASES: As I've described it as a surge upon a surge.

LA JEUNESSE: Call it frustration, fatigue, a lack of trust. California now
averages 37,000 new cases a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all for safety and everything, I got that. But above
and beyond, I think it's overreaching.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do wonder whether playgrounds for example, are better
off closed or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that we're closed, I think was unjustifiable.

LA JEUNESSE: This Beverly Hills restaurant even tried to hold a secret New
Year's Eve party that got caught when someone told the city.

WALKER: Our plea to everybody is to please don't gather, don't do indoor
events.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LA JEUNESSE (on camera): So, the surge Fauci refers to is the lag between
infection or rather exposure and hospitalization. And the fear is that the
access to New Year's infections will show up in mid to late January, Bret.
And that Beverly Hills restaurant just said that secret party at New Years
was a joke, back to you.

BAIER: Not so secret now. William, thank you.

Coming up, a former camper comes forward with allegations of abuse at a
camp run by one of the candidates in Georgia as Election Day draws near for
the Senate runoffs down there that will decide which party controls the
U.S. Senate.

Also ahead, Russia seemingly remains unscathed after hacking U.S.
government agencies, but that may not be the case in 2021.

BIDEN: We need to close the gap between where our capabilities are now and
where they need to be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All it takes is one successful offensive measure for a
nation state actor to get in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: The teenager who shared a three-second video of a high school
classmate saying a racial slur back in 2016 tells The New York Times he has
no regrets even as the woman could not attend her dream college after he
posted the video this past June.

Mimi Groves, who is now attending a community college, has apologized for
the video. Critics say The New York Times' article glorified cancel culture
and celebrated a high school student's vengeance on a classmate.

A San Francisco advisory committee is considering renaming 44 area schools
named after people it deems problematic. Among them, former President
Abraham Lincoln, due to his past treatment of Native Americans.

Other former presidents are also considered problematic in San Francisco,
including Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Theodore Roosevelt. Even
the state's current senator, Democrat Dianne Feinstein is on that list for
letting a confederate flag fly outside city hall when she was mayor in
1984.

The advisory committee is expected to issue its final recommendations next
month. The San Francisco mayor says the district's priority should be
getting its 54,000 students back into the classroom.

The pressure is on in Georgia with just about one week to go until Election
Day in the senate races that will decide the balance of power in the
Senate. And as we close in on January 5th, the accusations are ramping up
and one Georgia teenager is catching the attention of two Republicans.

Correspondent Steve Harrigan is following the race from Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Georgia's two
Republican senators are battling to bring 18-year-old American, Skylar
Mack, home in the Cayman Islands where she has been in jail since December
15th for violating COVID protocols.

Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler wrote to the U.S. embassy in
Jamaica, "It is the sincere hope of her parents that she can safely and
expeditiously return home to continue her studies as a pre-med student at
Mercer University.

Perdue and Loeffler are also battling to hold onto their jobs in runoff
races January 5th that will determine which party controls the Senate for
the next two years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey all.

HARRIGAN: The high stakes have led to a record fundraising. Perdue's
opponent, 33-year-old Jon Ossoff raised $106 million in the past two months
alone, compared with $68 million for Perdue.

JON OSSOFF (D), SENATORIAL CANDIDATE, GEORGIA: It's not just that you're a
crook, Senator.

HARRIGAN: Personal attacks blanket the airwaves. Ossoff regularly refers to
Perdue as a crook, while Republicans charge that Ossoff is supported by the
Communist Chinese government.

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): He's done business with a media company that
is owned in part by the Chinese Communist Party.

HARRIGAN: Ossoff's production company received compensation from a Hong
Kong conglomerate owned in part by the Chinese government. He amended his
financial disclosure after initially failing to disclose the compensation.

An Ossoff spokeswoman said the charge was false and desperate. The
Washington Free Beacon reports that counselors at a camp run by Raphael
Warnock in Maryland in 2002 poured urine on a 12-year-old camper and forced
him to remain outside overnight as punishment for wetting his bed.

The camper, Anthony Washington now 30, said his family received the
financial settlement in a lawsuit. Warnock was arrested by police when he
insisted camp counselors have attorneys present during questioning. The
charges against Warnock were later dropped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIGAN (on camera): President Trump will come to Dalton, Georgia next
week to try to get out the rural vote. Bret.

BAIER: Steve Harrigan in Atlanta. Steve, thanks. Up next, what tools the
U.S. may have in its arsenal to fight Russia in cyberspace.

First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are
covering tonight. Fox 32 in Chicago, where nearby Rockford, an Army Special
Forces sergeant has been charged with an apparent random shooting at a
bowling alley, Saturday night. Three people were killed there, three others
including two children wounded in that shooting.

An attorney for Duke Webb says her client may suffer from post-traumatic
stress disorder. The army says Webb had four deployments to Afghanistan the
last ending in July.

Fox 59 in Indianapolis, where a federal judge rules the Justice Department
unlawfully rescheduled the execution of the only woman on federal death
row. The decision potentially sets up the Trump administration to schedule
the execution after Joe Biden takes office.

Lisa Montgomery had been scheduled to be executed this month, but a delay
was given after her attorneys contracted COVID.

And this is a live look at Louisville, Kentucky from Fox 41. One of the big
stories there tonight, a Kentucky man goes viral for an unconventional way
of clearing the snow in his driveway.

Timothy Browning decided a flamethrower was the way to go and it proved to
be efficient means, obviously, of melting the snow. It seems like much more
fun obviously than shoveling, but authorities say please don't try this at
home.

That's tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll
be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: The suspected Russian hack into a series of U.S. government agencies
appears to be the top of mind for both the outgoing and incoming
administrations. Correspondent David Spunt has the latest from the Justice
Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: It certainly appears
to be the Russians.

DAVID SPUNT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Just days after top U.S.
officials blamed the Russia for a cyber-attack that affected the
departments of commerce and energy, Russia appears to remain unscathed.

BIDEN: This attack constitutes a grave risk to our national security. We
need to close the gap between where our capabilities are now and when they
need to be.

SPUNT: President-elect Joe Biden indicated today that the U.S. will not use
a go it alone approach to the multiple foreign policy flashpoints ahead.
The United Kingdom and other NATO allies are reportedly developing cyber
weapons for protection.

Experts expect Biden's cybersecurity team to focus heavily on the top three
cyber threats: Russia, China, and Iran.

LEEZA GARBER, CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY EXPERT: Hopefully, the next
administration and the one after that will start to get a bit more specific
as to what the United States' policies will be.

SPUNT: Cyber-attacks on private companies ramped up significantly in the
last decade with more than 20 major incidents according to a Fox News
analysis. They include attacks on Capital One, Yahoo, Marriott
International, Equifax, and eBay.

Cyber-attacks for national security purposes may be part of the United
States arsenal. In 2010, a computer worm called Stuxnet caused severe
damage to the Iranian nuclear program. The United States has never taken
responsibility for the attack.

GARBER: You can play defense as much as you want in terms of cybersecurity.
But all it takes is one successful offensive measure for a nation-state
actor to get in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPUNT (on camera): In the middle of this pandemic, intelligence agencies
are paying close attention to hospital systems to make sure foreign
governments do not launch an attack online. Bret.

BAIER: We'll stay on it. David, thank you.

The Brexit referendum was voted on the summer of 2016. Now, more than four
years later, the United Kingdom and the European Union have an agreement
pending formal approval.

Correspondent Benjamin Hall looks at the long process and the road ahead
from London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over):
4-1/2 years after the U.K. voted to leave the E.U. and with just four days
to go until the transition period ends, E.U. ambassadors today voted
unanimously to approve the deal to which they agreed on Christmas Eve.

On Wednesday, the British parliament will also vote though it's considered
a mere formality. By agreeing on a deal, the two sides have averted a hard
Brexit, which would have meant crashing out with no trade arrangements in
place. Instead, they now have a vast free trade deal. No tariffs, no
quotas, and full access to each other's markets. Britain's finance minister
says it's a new dawn.

RISHI SUNAK, MEMBER OF UNITED KINGDOM PARLIAMENT: It gives us a fantastic
platform to go forward, maintain tariff-free access to European markets,
but also capitalize on new opportunities.

HALL:  There are expected to be hurdles. New checks at the borders may lead
to long delays at ports. The U.K. is now bound to a level playing field on
regulations, so it can't undercut the E.U. And British fishermen had hoped
for greater control over U.K. waters, preventing European fishermen from
coming in and fishing them. Billions have been set aside to help businesses
adjust.

MICHAEL GOVE, MEMBER OF U.K. PARLIAMENT:  I think business is broadly in a
good place, but inevitably, with any change, with any transition, there are
occasional bumpy moments, and that's why the government is there to help
business be ready.

HALL:  Prime Minister Boris Johnson, though, says it will all be worth it
because the U.K. now sets its own rules. It's no longer beholden to the
European courts. It controls its own immigration, and it can strike trade
deals around the world. It's already signed 58 worth about $270 billion,
and has now been talking directly to the U.S. for another.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HALL (on camera):  This Brexit deal has not pleased everyone, but there is
widespread agreement that it's better than no deal, and that the U.K. can
now put it behind them, move forward, and start a new era outside of the
European Union. Bret?

BAIER:  Benjamin Hall in London. Benjamin, thank you.

Up next, the panel joins me to discuss President Trump signing the COVID
relief, government funding package, and Congress' trying to override the
president's NDAA veto, plus the House just voting on those $2,000 checks.

First, beyond our borders tonight. At least five people were killed in
separate attacks across Afghanistan, raising concerns about the fate of
peace talks that have been suspended until at least next month. No one has
claimed responsibility yet for those attacks.

A Chinese citizen journalist who reported from Wuhan during the coronavirus
outbreak has been sentenced to four years in jail by a Chinese court for,
quote, picking quarrels and provoking trouble according to her lawyer. The
reports of crowded hospitals and empty streets painted a more dire picture
of the outbreak's epicenter than the official narrative from China. The
United Nations Human Rights Office has called for the citizens' release.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has begun the process of recognizing
around 80,000 black South Africans who served as part of the native
military corps in World War II. The black volunteers were forbidden to
fight by their white leaders, so they worked as laborers, guards, and
medical aides.

Just some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight. We'll be right
back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) SENATE MINORITY LEADER:  I am fighting, Senate Democrats
are fighting for $2,000 per person.

REP. ELISE STEFANIK, (R-NY):  When it comes to the $2,000 checks, it's
important to remember that the $600 is not for a family. It's per
individual and per child.

REP. MO BROOKS, (R-AL):  Someone has got to show me how we're going to pay
for it. How far before we ultimately go into a debilitating insolvency and
bankruptcy that's going to do great damage to our country?

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI, (D-CA):  Suddenly the deficit hawks seemed to have
returned. They certainly were not there back in 2017 when the Republicans
supported a trillion-and-a-half dollar tax cut, almost all of which, 80
percent, went to the super wealthy and big corporations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  The president signed the COVID relief, the stimulus, and the
funding for the government, but said he wanted $2,000 going to every
family. The House at the top of this hour just voted 275 to 134 to do that.
Now the Senate will take up that $2,000 per person making $75,000 or less
tomorrow, and Democrats are jumping on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAN KILDEE, (D-MI) DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP:  President Trump changed his
mind and supports this legislation. That's why we acted. We would have
included much larger payments in the legislation had he spoken up sooner.
But it's never too late to do the right thing. President Trump stood up. We
support this legislation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  Democrat from Michigan there. Let's bring in our panel, Byron York,
chief political correspondent of the "Washington Examiner," former
Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr., and "Washington Post" columnist Marc
Thiessen.

Marc, there are a lot of Republicans, particularly on the Senate side, who
may be put in a box here, an uncomfortable box, and perhaps the biggest two
will be running for Georgia for Senate in January 5th in that runoff, David
Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

MARC THIESSEN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE:  No doubt. The Senate is not
going to approve a $2,000 payment to the American people because it's not
targeted to people who are struggling or who are having trouble. That's
what the unemployment increases is for and the other paycheck protection
aid is for. But Trump has put them in the box. And basically this helped
nobody on the Republican side. It's going to put those Republicans, as you
say, in a box. It's making him look like a lame duck because he can't get
it passed.

And he's taking what should have been a victory and turned it into a
defeat. The Democrats have been blocking this legislation since July, and
the reason was they didn't want to give Donald Trump credit. Now that it's
finally passed, instead of taking credit, he makes Americans go through
Christmas wondering whether the aide that's expiring is going to be there
for them. He puts the Republicans in the position of potentially having to
override his veto on this and be crosswise with the president, and he's
given Pelosi and Schumer a cudgel to beat them up, saying Trump supports
$2,000 checks, why don't you? So it's just a disaster all the way around.

BAIER:  Yes, and you're not alone in sharing that. The front page of "The
New York Post," the opinion section of "The Post," which endorsed President
Trump, had this as the front cover today, " Stop the insanity -- Mr.
President, stop the insanity. You lost the election. Here's how to save
your legacy."

Byron, where do you think the end game is here? He's going down to Georgia,
the president is, in two different places to try to rally Republicans down
there, Dalton and Valdosta, that have seen early voting less than they
thought it was going to be for Republicans. But he is really focused,
still, on January 6th, and what happens about the final stand to try to
save his presidency.

BRYON YORK, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER":  He said
a lot more about January 6th than he has about January the 5th. The
president obviously is a big supporter of in person Election Day voting,
and not going down there for the second time until January 4th is all about
getting the Republicans to turn up at the polls in person on Election Day.

This whole idea of the January 6th thing where Republicans in the House are
going to protest the ratification of the Electoral College results,
Democrats actually did that in 2001 and 2005 and in 2017. Didn't work for
any of them, and it's not going to work for the president. So he wants to
have, I think, a large crowd of his supporters in Washington, but the fact
is what happens in the House chamber is that the election of Joe Biden in
the Electoral College will be certified.

BAIER:  Yes. And it will be. There's not -- we don't see any surprises,
predict any. We will follow every aspect of that and all sides. Back to the
payment and the money distribution, Harold, the $2,000 check. Here is
Senator Pat Toomey over the weekend about where this is coming from in the
Senate minority leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA):  This money isn't sitting on a shelf. We're going
to print it or we're going to borrow it. And I think that the aid should be
much, much more targeted. It should be targeted to people who have actually
lost their job, small businesses that are actually in danger of going
under.

SCHUMER:  It's up to the Senate. Every Senate democrat is for it. But
unfortunately, we don't have the Republicans on board. Today, I am telling
Donald Trump, don't 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  I understand the criticism of Republicans who lost their gumption
to fight over the deficit and debt. It stands, the debt, at $27 trillion.
Eventually we as a country are going to have to deal with that, but neither
party has wanted to. It is this not the time, Harold?

HAROLD FORD JR. (D) FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE:  Happy holidays to
all, and glad to be with you again. I would say this is probably not the
right time to be focusing on the kinds of things that politicians now want
to conveniently focus on. You have millions of Americans who stood in line
for food between Thanksgiving and Christmas, millions, not thousands, but
millions.

I know Senator Toomey and I actually like him, but he has to realize that
this is targeted, and Marc, who is my friend, this is targeted. It's up to
$75,000 per individual. That doesn't mean everyone earning $74,999 is
receiving this money. It means that millions of Americans earning $20,000
and $30,000 and $40,000 and $50,000 a year who since March have gotten one
payment, yet we have seen a number of incredible things done to help big
business in the country. And I don't bemoan them, but at the same time we
shouldn't disadvantage and discriminate against main street in the country.

So I hope Republicans, Democrats alike, and there is blame to go around.
Byron is right, both parties share some of the blame. But for President
Trump at this hour to say now he wishes the payments to families were
raised to $2,000 or individuals to $2,000, excuse me, when he had that
opportunity before, I think it does one thing and one thing only
politically -- it confuses Republicans in Georgia, which certainly
advantages Democrats heading into that all-important runoff in early
January.

BAIER:  Let's remember, his treasury secretary was involved in every
conversation for months, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and called the
deal a very good deal at $600 a person payout before the president decided
that the number was $2,000.

Marc, just moments ago the House now has enough votes to override the veto
of the National Defense Authorization Act. That's two-thirds, as you take a
look live here. This is going to be a big veto override. It's going to
happen likely in the Senate as well. What does this mean? And again, we put
it through the prism of the Georgia runoff because January 5th is just
around the corner.

THIESSEN:  Yes, well, Georgia is a very military-heavy state. The Defense
Authorization Act has been passed and signed into law for 59 straight years
until now. And now Kelly Loeffler and Perdue, they have to decide do I vote
against a three percent pay raise for Georgia military -- Georgia citizens
who are in the military, or do I vote to overturn the president and turn
off the Trump base for bucking the president? Again, he's hurting his party
by doing these insane things.

And finally, just pushing back on what Harold said about the payments, if
you're making $75,000 a year and you haven't lost your job, you don't need
the $2,000 payment from the U.S. government, from your neighbors. This is
not targeted. There are lots more targeted ways to get help to people. A
$2,000 payment to anyone making $75,000 or less is not the way to do it.

FORD:  Let me be on record just saying this. I don't mind if someone is
making $74,000 a year and they get an additional $2,000 in light of the
run-up in the stock market, in light of the run-up for the wealthiest in
the country, I have no issue with that. But I can assure you, this is
targeted and every one of those families needs every bit of these dollars.

THIESSEN:  Not targeted to people who are hurting from COVID.

BAIER:  There you go. This is the debate that is in both chambers. Thank
you, gentlemen.

Next up, the latest iterations of cancel culture.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT:  I do get a sense sometimes now among
certain young people, and this is accelerated by social media, there is the
sense sometimes of the way of me making change is to be as judgmental as
possible about other people, and that's enough.

Like if I tweet or hashtag about how you didn't do something right or used
the wrong verb or -- then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself,
because you see how woke I was, I called you out.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA:  That's not activism. That's not bringing about change. If all
you're doing is casting stones, you're probably not going to get that far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  Former President Obama talking about the woke culture in 2019.
We're back with the panel. A couple of stories fit under this category. One
is a "New York Times" story in which the headline is "A racial slur, a
viral video, a reckoning. A white high school student withdrew from her
chosen college after a three second video caused an uproar online. The
classmate who shared it publicly has no regrets." The racial slur she
apologized for was from 2016, a three second video, but she is now
attending a community college. She couldn't get into the college she
wanted. Critics say this article glorified this culture and celebrated this
high school student's vengeance about posting this video. It's kind of been
talked about, Harold. What about this? Some words carry more weight than
others, even years later.

FORD:  I'm a believer in redemption in second chances, and if any of us
were to have our lives determined or judged or judged and determined by
what we did in high school, we might all be leading different lives. I do
hope we don't direct our ire at the young man that shared those words
because I believe the young lady, although she gave a heartfelt apology,
and should not have this held against her as she moves forward in life. And
I think she's learned from it. I hope the young man learns from it. But ire
shouldn't be directed at either. I think it's important when hateful and
racial language is used that we learn from it. But everyone deserves a
second chance, and I hope this young lady gets one.

BAIER:  Yes, and you think back to all kinds of different scenarios.
Remember Nicholas Sandmann talked about cancel culture at the RNC, Marc.
Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLAS SANDMANN, FORMER COVINGTON HIGH STUDENT:  I learned what was
happening to me had a name. It was called being canceled, as in annulled,
as in revoked, as in made void. Many are being fired, humiliated, or even
threatened, and often the media is a willing participant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  And he won a lot of money in that case about his case on the mall.
But then you have other places like San Francisco that is trying to -- or
looking into possibly renaming schools from presidents, a long list of
presidents, who they say are, quote, problematic.

THIESSEN:  Yes, no, that's absolutely right. On the video point, I feel
sorry for this generation, because when Harold and I were in high school,
and Byron too, we could -- not that any of us would have done this, but we
could do stupid things and it wasn't documented on video and it didn't live
forever on the Internet. This generation of kids can't do anything stupid
because it's going to follow them through the rest of their lives.

I remember when I took my kids to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp, I
showed them the story about the girl who is now known as the Auschwitz
selfie girl because she took a smiling picture of herself as a teenager on
the railroad tracks, and forever she's going to be considered that. So this
generation can't make mistakes. And I just feel badly for them that you
can't be -- when you're a sophomore you should be able to be sophomoric and
not have it ruin your life.

BAIER:  That's a good point, especially good advice for young kids.

Byron, a final word here, we should point out, there are many other things
that are more important than this, but every once in a while these stories
bubble up, and a lot of people start talking about them, so we thought we
would.

YORK:  Well, Harold talked about the young woman whose admission was
rescinded, and young man who had put out the video of her. The other party
to mention here is the University of Tennessee, which withdrew her
admission after this social media fracas starts out. And she was 15 years
old, she was a high school freshman. She used the n-word. She had heard it
in rap lyrics. She had heard other students do it. She shouldn't have done
it, she did it on a three second video, and this young man waited until he
could release it at a time he thought it would do maximum damage to her.

And the people who should be the adults here are the University of
Tennessee, which should have looked at this and said this is all
unfortunate, don't do it again, and your admission still stands.

BAIER:  All right, panel, thank you so much. Happy New Year. When we
combat, some holiday gifts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER:  Finally tonight, two brave fighters. It was a big moment for nine-
year-old Julian who rang the bell at Cincinnati's Children's Medical
Hospital to mark the end of chemo treatment. Julian spent six months in the
hospital, six months there for a rare disease, dyskeratosis congenita, one
out of a million actually get it. But he left, as you see, to a cheering
tunnel of medical staff.

And in an unforgettable holiday gift, U.S. Marine Daniel Ceballos surprised
his mother as she was eating breakfast. The two embraced for the first time
in eight months as the crowd at the Orlando restaurant celebrated his
homecoming. We love seeing those. Fun to be in that restaurant, right?

Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for the "SPECIAL
REPORT," fair, balanced, and still unafraid. "THE STORY" guest-hosted by my
friend Will Cain starts right now.

Hey, Will.

WILL CAIN, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  Hey, Bret. thanks so much for tossing it over
here. 

END

Content and Programming Copyright 2020 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2020 ASC Services II Media, LLC.  All materials
herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be
reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast
without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may
not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of
the content.