News Wrap: AG Barr says no evidence of large-scale election fraud

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• Judy Woodruff:

  An influential scientific committee says the first COVID-19 vaccine doses in the U.S. should go to health care workers and patients in nursing homes.

  The panel made that recommendation to the CDC today, as the U.S. death toll topped 270,000. The recommendation affects 24 million people.

  And, in an online forum, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said, based on the research phase, they should not worry about side effects.

• Anthony Fauci:

  We know from decades of experience with vaccines that 30 to 45 days, 90-plus percent of all the adverse events occur.

  I think, if every health care worker realized how transparent and independent the process is, they would feel much more comfortable about getting vaccinated.

• Judy Woodruff:

  We will return to the vaccine story right after the news summary.

  U.S. Attorney General William Barr has dealt a fresh blow to President Trump's claims of widespread election fraud. Barr told the Associated Press today that — quote — "We have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election."

  Meanwhile, the president sued to disqualify 221,000 ballots in Wisconsin, which has already certified a win for president-elect Biden.

  The Biden economic team was introduced today. Leading the list, nominated to be Treasury secretary, is Janet Yellen, former chair of the Federal Reserve. She called for urgent new action to address economic damage done by the pandemic.

  We will look at all of this later in the program.

  There were new efforts today to get economic relief moving in the current lame-duck Congress. A bipartisan group of senators pitched a $900 billion proposal. But both Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer insisted that the other side give ground.

• Sen. Mitch McConnel, R-Ky.:

  We just don't have time to waste time. We have a couple of weeks left here. Obviously, it does require bipartisan support to get out of Congress, but it requires a presidential signature.

• Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.:

  He knows darn well the House is Democratic majority. He knows darn well he needs Democratic votes in the Senate to get anything done, since a number of his people won't vote for any proposal. And yet he continues to negotiate in a partisan way.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a new version of their own proposal to McConnell last night.

  In Brazil, a criminal gang carried out a brazen attack on a city overnight. Police say that at least 30 gunmen armed with assault rifles invaded Criciuma, taking over streets and assaulting a bank. The takeover lasted about two hours. There's no word on how much money was stolen.

  China says that it successfully landed an unmanned craft on the moon today. Chinese-supplied animation showed the probe leaving orbit and landing. It's meant to collect rocks and soil and return to Earth. Only two nations, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, have ever brought back material from the moon.

  And back in this country, the U.S. Soccer Federation and the women's national team reached a settlement on working conditions. It calls for charter flights, hotel accommodations and professional staff support that's on a par with the men's national team. An ongoing dispute over equal pay was left to further litigation.

  And Wall Street hit new highs today on hopes that COVID vaccines will boost economic recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 185 points to close near 28824. The Nasdaq rose 156 points to a record finish, and the S&P 500 added 40, also reaching a new high.