abc's averi harper has the latest from washington, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. those long-awaited stimulus checks are finally going out. now the president is attacking his own party, saying those checks aren't big enough. this morning, another stimulus stalemate is taking shape in washington. as americans begin to receive a second round of economic relief, the treasury department says direct deposits could have arrived as early as last night, while releasing more details about payments for americans who qualify. $600 for individuals, $1,200 for married couples, and up to $600 for each qualifying child. it all comes as a measure to bump those stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 hits a major block. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell blocked two attempts from democratic senators to bring it to a vote on the floor. but mcconnell added that the senate will begin a process to bring three priorities to the table this week. the possible repeal of liability protections for social media companies, election integrity, and potentially the $2,000 stimulus checks, all tru

here's averi harper. >> reporter: this morning, another stimulus stalemate is taking shape in washington. as americans begin to receive a second round of economic relief, the treasury department says direct deposits could have arrived as early as last night, while releasing more details about payments for americans who qualify. $600 for individuals, $1,200 for married couples, and up to $600 for each qualifying child. it all comes as a measure to bump those stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 hits a major block. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell blocked two attempts from democratic senators to bring it to a vote on the floor. but mcconnell added that the senate will begin a process to bring three priorities to the table this week. the possible repeal of liability protections for social media companies, election integrity, and potentially the $2,000 stimulus checks, all trump demands. but how the senate will actually proceed is still unclear. >> those are the three important subjects the president has linked together. >> reporter: after mcconnell blocked the vote, trump tweeted this

here's averi harper. >> reporter: this morning, another stimulus stalemate is taking shape in washington. as americans begin to receive a second round of economic relief, the treasury department says direct deposits could have arrived as early as last night, while releasing more details about payments for americans who qualify. $600 for individuals, $1,200 for married couples, and up to $600 for each qualifying child. it all comes as a measure to bump those stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 hits a major block. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell blocked two attempts from democratic senators to bring it to a vote on the floor. but mcconnell added that the senate will begin a process to bring three priorities to the table this week. the possible repeal of liability protections for social media companies, election integrity, and potentially the $2,000 stimulus checks, all trump demands. but how the senate will actually proceed is still unclear. >> those are the three important subjects the president has linked together. >> reporter: after mcconnell blocked the vote, trump tweeted this

averi harper, abc news, washington. >>> federal and state health officials admit the number of covid-19 vaccinations is below what was initially promised. tens of millions of doses were promised to be delivered nationwide by the end of december, we are here now and those numbers have fallen short, including in the state of california. the surgeon general dr. jerome adams talked about that this morning on "gma." >> from a federal perspective we are on track to have 20 million people able to be vaccinated, doses on the ground by the end of next week as general perna said. we're on track from that perspective and have to help the state even local entities to get the vaccines administered and into bodies and arms. >> the surgeon general talked about the new variant of coronavirus. >> take any worry you have and understand the vaccines still look like they're going to work and talked to dr. collins and fauci about it as recently as yesterday. a more contagious variant means it's more critical we follow basic health measures, wash your hands, wear a mask, watch your distance and wait to gat

avery harper, abc news, washington. >>> a ban on flavored tobacco set to go into effect on january 1st in california has been delayed. opponents led by tobacco companies say they got enough signatures to put the new law to a statewide vote. officials agreed to wait until 623,000 signatures can be verified. however one county is reporting a high level of signatures that do not match records. if there's not enough the ban will begin when the secretary of state certifies the drive. >>> mastercard said people were shopping for home decor and furniture because more people are staying at home. the report also found online shopping went up almost 50% between october and christmas eve. >>> okay. so here is the perfect blend of winter and we'll say creativity at christmastime. this man. it's not a fire. this guy in kentucky said instead of using a shovel he would bring out the flame thrower to clear his driveway. yes. there's another view of this that somebody else did that's really close. you're like why. to add on top of this, he dressed up as cousin eddie from the national lampoon christmas

averi harper has that and a grim new prediction from the cdc. >> reporter: the second confirmed case of the more contagious variant of covid-19 has been found in southern california's san diego county. health officials there trying to determine where the 30-year-old patient got it and how many more people could be infected. >> because there is no travel history, we believe this is not an isolated case. >> the first case found in colorado and another in a suspected member of the national guard. >> we do not have evidence that the variant virus is circulating in that facility, but testing is ongoing. >> reporter: health experts say the mutation is not more deadly and vaccines should still be effective against it. but the pace of vaccinations is still far behind expectations. >> that number is lower than what we hoped for. >> the trump administration pledged 20 million vaccinations by the end of the year. so far 14 million have been distributed and only 2.5 million doses administered. the president blaming the states for the slow rollout tweeting they need to get moving. there are fears

avery harper, abc news, washington. >>> one san francisco supervisor wants to put an end to permanent closures to music and entertainment venues. according to "the chronicle" new ed ed legislation for the remaining. the venues the first to close and likely the last to reopen. if passed cover up to $50 million for funding for local venues. night life in the city accounted for more than $7 billion each year. >>> coming up, the new way to holiday this new year's eve. how the bay area is adapting with virtual celebration and restaurant meal kits and more. >>> plus, the sea lion that has gone home for the holidays thanks to volunteers from the marine mammal center. her story of survival. >>> and today is one of our brightest and warmest days moving forward because starting tomorrow, we've got a series of storms on the way and they're all ones on the storm impact scale. this one comes in tomorrow night with less than 0.2 but make for a slippery thursday morning commute. we'll take a look at that when >>> check this out. a rare southern california storm brought hail to parts of los angeles c

abc's avery harper is in washington to tell us what it all means. good morning, avery. >> reporter: good morning, mona. congress is slated to meet to certify the electoral college vote, but in a last-ditch effort to overturn the results, missouri senator josh hawley says that he'll object to the results during that process. his objection will force the house and senate to vote on whether to accept joe biden's election win without giving specifics or evidence. hawley alleges that some states failed to follow their election laws and that big tech interfered on behalf of biden. >> 74 million americans have concerns about election integrity. we're supposed to just sit down and shut up? i mean, somebody has to stand up here. this process right here, my one opportunity to stand up and say something, and that's exactly what i'm going to do. >> reporter: now there has been no evidence of widespread election fraud, and many of his critics are calling this move purely political and it is important to note there have been a growing number of republicans includ

here's abc's avery harper. >> reporter: this video shows the moment the christmas day explosion rocked downtown nashville. investigators calling it a suicide bombing. >> anthony warner is the bomber. he was present when the bomb went off and he perished in the bombing. >> reporter: shortly after 1:00 a.m. christmas morning this rv was parked outside the at&t building. authorities are viewing this surveillance video of the blast. >> if you can hear this message, evacuate now. >> reporter: police say they could hear the ominous recording coming from the rv, along with a '60s pop song. >> what i remember was downtown where the lights shine bright. >> reporter: investigators now psychiatric and medical history. agents could be seen carrying out bags of evidence associated with a home from warner. investigators are investigating whether he was paranoid about 5g technology. meanwhile six nashville police officers are describing the moments they rushed to evacuate families before friday's explosion. officer brenna hosey began banging on doors, helping a mother of four evacuate. >> she said le

. >> averi harper in washington, thank you. >>> now to the growing crisis inside the nation's hospital wes another coronavirus surge expected soon. we learned overnight that california is taking new action and there's new hope for another vaccine. this morning, the u.s. military now deploying medical troops to help california's overburdened hospitals, buckling under the pressure of skyrocketing covid cases. los angeles county, the epicenter, taking new action, requiring all travelers to quarantine for ten days as the region reports a 600% increase in deaths since november. >> on average, 9 to 10 people in l.a. county test positive for covid-19 every minute. >> 96% of hospitals in l.a. county had no room for emergency patients over the weekend. some hospitals now putting patients in conference rooms and even gift shops because of the lack of space. >> it's absolutely devastating. it's very challenging to know that patients are coming into the hospital even sicker than they normally do because we, frankly, can't take them in all the hospitals that way. >> doctors growing more concerned j

here's abc news reporter avery harper. >> reporter: after unemployment benefits lapsed for millions of americans and just before the government could have shut down president trump did what lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had been begging him to do. sign the government spending bill which included $900 billion in covid relief. >> we're glad that the president finally signed the covid relief bill. >> reporter: putting many americans who needed the money at ease. >> an incredible relief. it will mean that i will only be dipping into a little bit of my savings. i'll be able to pay most of my bills. i'm grateful for that. >> reporter: unclear when those eligible for the $600 payments will start seeing the checks because of president trump's delay in signing the bill but treasury secretary steve mnuchin suggests it may take only a week or so. the house passing a measure monday and attempt to meet the president's last-minute demand. on monday the house also voted overwhelmingly to override the president's veto of the defense authorization act. the senate expected to take up the issue th