i'm michael holmes and welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states and around the world. appreciate your company. this is cnn newsroom. ♪ those stories in a moment, but first after debate and disagreement among vaccine experts, pfizer booster shots can now be officially administered to millions of adults in the u.s.. the director of the u.s. centers for disease control rochelle walensky is breaking with the recommendation of the cdc's independent vaccine advisers. instead she's siding with the fda, which on wednesday recommended emergency use authorization for a booster dose of pfizer's covid-19 vaccine in people 65 and older. she is also giving the green light to those aged 18 and over with underlying health conditions that put them at high risk of severe disease, and those at high risk because of their occupation, which, of course, would include health care workers and the like. now, cdc advisers had voted against giving boosters to people age 18 to 64 who faced those greater risks. now, the disparity in recommendations has been creating a lot of confusion among americans. former fda commissioner scott gottlieb spoke with cnn's chris cuomo on thursday, and addressed how it could have been handled. >> i think one of the challenges is that people have lost confidence in public health officials. and coming out of this we're going to have to reinvigorate public health and create stronger public health institutions. it's going to be a lot of people who don't want to empower public health officials because the guidance has been shifting. this is a perfect example where in a setting of a pandemic we did adequate pandemic planning and this is what i talk a lot about in the book, we might create a different kind of process where cdc and fda work together. israelis did that, they a lined their regulatory agencies and had one seamless process, came out with a recommendation, i am plentied it. we went through the same stage process we go through with the pediatric vaccination schedule. that process is meant to have checks and balances and it works very well in ordinary times. when we have time to implement these things, to deliberate them carefully, but in a setting of a pandemic when you need to move quickly and you also need to align public health officials around a unified message in order to inspire public confidence, you might want to have a different process. and this should have been thought out from the outset. i think as we go forward and plan differently for a pandemic, we might think differently how we deploy a vaccine in the setting of a public health emergency like this. now to the surprise of absolutely no one, joe biden defeated donald trump in arizona's maricopa county in 2020. that undisputed fact reconfirmed one more time as inexperienced pro-trump add uditors hired by state senators brought them phantom hunt to an end. in the end, the the effort back fired. trump lost 261 votes in that partisan recount. while joe biden picked up 99. now, four close aides and allies of former donald trump had been hit with subpoenas from the bipartisan panel investigating the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol. the committee is trying to drill down on what led to the insurrection and what trump and members of his inner circle were doing when it all went down. cnn's ryan nobles explains who has been summoned and how likely they are to cooperate. >> this is a significant move by the january 6 select committee. the first round of subpoenas and interview requests that they have made, and it comes to four men that are very loyal to and served the former president donald trump. his former chief of staff, mark meadows, his former deputy chief of staff dan scavino. cash patel served as the chief of staff to the then acting secretary of defense, and steve bannon, former white house counsellor played an active role in the trump campaign and also involved in the planning and encouragement of people to attend that stop the steal rally that served as the prelude to the january 6 capitol insurrection. and when you read these letters that were sent to all four men, it seems pretty clear what the committee is looking for and why they are asking these men to come forward. the letter to dan scavino, for instance, reads, the select committee has reason to believe that you have information relevant to understanding important activities that led to and inform the events at the capitol on january 6, 2021, and relevant to former president trump's activities and communications in the period leading up to and on january 6. and the committee isn't wasting any time. they'd like this information as soon as october 7. they requested the interviews take place on october 14 and 15. it likely won't be that easy, though. it is a very likely that these men will attempt to use executive privilege as a way to fight the committee subpoena power and prevent them from coming forward. so even though they'd like this to happen relatively soon, there is a very good chance that we're going to see a legal battle before we see any interviews actually take place. ryan nobles, cnn on capitol hill. so these trump loyalists may well try to stonewall the committee when trump was in power. white house officials were fending off subpoenas left and right. but now they might no longer be protected. cnn's senior law enforcement analyst lays out what the panel wants to know. >> sounds to me like they are taking the first steps at conducting what will prove to be a very thorough inquiry. they are starting with trying to develop a specific understanding of all of the events and the people involved in them leading up to january 6. so, who said what to whom, who met with who, and what place, at what time, and specifically getting to this question of what did the president know, what was his involvement or awareness of those preparations leading up to january 6th. and then, of course, on the day of the events. you know, some of these folks like cash patel specifically has been rumored to have been on the phone with the president many, many times that day. so there's a lot of ground that the committee could cover here to really peel back the onion on what exactly was the president thinking, what did he know was happening, what did he want to happen, and what did he do to try to effect that result. >> well, so far more than 600 rioters have been charged in connection with the insurrection. now, on thursday, a man who took a beer from house speaker nancy pelosi's office pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense. an online post shows him pouring a bottle of corona light from her mini fridge. he could get up to six months in jail, but he's likely to see far less when he's sentenced in december. you're watching cnn newsroom with me michael holmes. coming up in the program, the u.s. clears out part of a migrant camp along the border with mexico. what it's doing with the hundreds of haitians who were staying there. are 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multi-flex tailgate. find new flexibility. find new roads. chevrolet. is olay better than your clean beauty? olay has 99% pure niacinamide. it's derm-tested. and now, it's cleanest formula with hydration that beats the $400 cream. tried. tested. never bested. shop at olay.com the u.s. department of homeland security is planning to increase the number of daily flights sending haitian migrants back to haiti. and it 's demolishing squalid camps where thousands of migrants have been living. cnn's rosa flores with details. >> reporter: the biden administration's strategy on the del rio migrant crisis drawing criticism. as what the administration says. >> in order to ensure that migrants are swiftly taken into custody, processed and removed from the united states consistent with our laws and policies. >> reporter: doesn't tell the whole story on the ground. the department of homeland security says about 1400 haitians have been sent back to haiti since september 19. the move, creating chaos on the tarmac in port-au-prince. the u.s. special envoy to haiti citing inhumane decision to deport thousands of haitian refugees, calling u.s. policy deeply flawed. >> this [ bleep ] country. >> reporter: this after border patrol agents on horseback used aggressive tactics against migrants. d.h.s. suspending horse patrol in del rio. 3200 migrants were transported and in deportation custody d.h.s. says. since monday, more than 1300 migrants have been released in del rio aliona corresponding to a local nonprofit. six days under the bridge. that's where we met naline, a haitian woman that said migrants are given a number on a ticket under the bridge. she had a yellow ticket. did they tell you why it was yellow? >> no. >> reporter: she said she was processed and allowed to stay in the united states. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: she's thankful she's allowed to stay, she says, because in haiti she wouldn't have a place to live. but cnn has learned up to 30,000 haitians in colombia could be heading to the u.s. southern border. cnn cameras capturing migrants flowing into texas near the del rio international bridge. from the air, the camp clearly shrinking. from the ground. you see behind me law enforcement presence is heavy. take a close look under the bridge and you'll see the number of migrants has dwindled. if you look around you'll see the number of resources has increased. cnn getting a close look inside a field hospital that just went up. >> this is the emergency care center. >> reporter: the chief medical officer says 70 patients were treated in the first 24 hours. >> some environmental injuries, some heat injuries, some occasional nausea, diarrhea, some respiratory illness from the dust and the environment. >> reporter: months before this camp went up, the local border patrol union says agents asked the federal government for additional resources because of an increase in border crossings. but the resources didn't arrive until recent days. a dramatic change here in del rio, texas, are drone cameras captured video of heavy machinery bulldozing some of the vacant areas where the migrant camp once was. officials say that now there are just over 3,000 migrants under the bridge waiting to be processed by u.s. immigration authorities. a drastic decrease from the more than 14,000 just days ago. rosa flores, cnn, del rio, texas. >> u.s. democrat henry cuella represents texas's 28th congressional district which covers a long stretch of that border with mexico. he says this crisis shows no sign of letting up. >> this surge of haitians is not going to stop any time soon. now, are they coming directly from haiti? no. are they flying in from chile and other countries? yes. and, again, it's a very difficult situation. i've been telling the administration since the transition team since december 11 of last year that there are folks that are getting the impression that this border is going to be opened and they feel that they have a opportunity to come into the united states. >> mexico is starting to get tough on the migrants on its side of the border. cnn's matt rivers saw it firsthand. he filed this report from ciudad ocuna which is across the border. >> reporter: just across the border from del rio, this is the point where dozens and dozens of people were traveling back ask forth between the united states and mexico. people, most of whom were staying in that encampment in the u.s. where we've seen thousands of haitian migrants gather over the past week or so, just up the river from where we are. but because of the conditions there, many people would come here to the mexican side, cross over freely allowed to do so by law enforcement, to do everything from charge a cell phone to get food, water, even diapers for their kids, and then put them in garbage bags and bring them back across the river. that had been happening for a while. that is no longer happening at this point. basically what happened at some point during the day, mid afternoon, more or lesson thursday here, were about six or seven immigration officials here in mexico kind of formed a mini human chain and started preventing haitian migrants who wanted to go back to the united states from doing so. that created a very volatile situation for about half an hour here. word quickly spread about that and several dozen haitian migrants who were on this side of the border basically pushed past those immigration officials, overwhelmed them and made their way across to the united states, bringing what limited things they could with them. as a result of that, mexico stepped up its response, bringing in more heavily armed police, creating kind of a mini wall with four or five half dozen vehicles put just behind the camera where it is now, preventing haitian migrants from coming in. and that's basically where we stand at this point. if you are a haitian migrant right now in mexico, you're more or less stuck in that country even if you want to cross to the united states. it is a long border. you could probably figure out some way to do it, but going through this point, the point that's been more established over the past several days, as a more traffic point to get across, that's not happening any more. as a result, it's actually sepa separated some families. we met one man who said he came from the u.s. camp here for a few hours to mexico to try and charge his cell phone. when he tried to go back across, immigration officials here in mexico wouldn't let him. here's what he told us. >> translator: they won't let me cross the water right now. but if they don't let me cross, if my son has a problem, they're going to be responsible for my son? if my son dies over there, whose fault is it? not mine. >> reporter: so it's heartbreaking when you think about that man not being able to go across and see his family. unfortunately that is something that is being repeated many times over now between mexico and the united states. matt rivers, cnn, mexico. now, hundreds of haitians who have crossed into the u.s. will have to give up on the american dream, at least for now. more than 1400 haitians have already been sent back home. deportations reportedly ramping up in recent days. and they're being sent to the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, which is struggling, of course, to recover from natural disasters and a presidential assassination. 60% live in poverty. that's according to a world bank estimate last year. haiti was ranked near the bottom of the u.n.'s human development index. its per capita gdp is about $1100. the country is in the grips of widespread gang violence as well, and grappling with the fallout from the assassination of its president while a deadly earthquake has left tens of thousands homeless. now, the haitian ambassador to the united states says the situation calls for a different approach. here's what he says president biden should do. >> look haiti differently. stop looking at haiti on a humanitarian lens. i believe that there was no nation that can be develop humanitarian assistance. let us reassess our population. let us make it something dynamic. by helping us with love, the security situation, by strengthening our national police, and make sure that we have a stable condition to attract foreign investment, where we can create more jobs and people will get jobs and they will stay in their own country. but as long as there aren't any opportunity, people will always want to leave their own country and to seek for better life. the search for gabby petito's fiancee is intensifying. when we come back, we'll tell you about an arrest warrant issued for brian laundrie for his activity after her death. the latest on the investigation next. at usaa, we've been called too exclusive. because we only serve those who honorably served. all ranks, all branches, and their families. are we still exclusive? 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(vo) i am living with cll and i am living longer. thanks to imbruvica. imbruvica is a prescription medicine for adults with cll or chronic lymphocytic leukem. it will not work for everyone. medicine for adults imbruvica is the #1 prescribed oral therapy forll, and it's proven to help people ve longer. imbruvica is not chemotherapy. imbruvica can cause serious side effects, which may lead to death. bleeding problems are common and may increase with blood thinners. serious infections with symptoms like fevers, chills, weakness or confusion and severe decrease in blood counts can happen. heart rhythm problems and heart failure may occur especially in people with increased risk of heart disease, infection, or past heart rhythm problems. new or worsening high blood pressure, new cancers, and tumor lysis that can result in kidney failure, irregular heartbeat, and seizure can occur. diarrhea commonly occurs. drink plenty of fluids. tell your doctor if you have signs of bleeding, infection, heart problems, persistent diarrhea or any other side effects. i am living with cll and living proof that imbruvica is right for me. ask your doctor if it's right for you. in business, it's never just another day. it's the big sale, or the big presentation. the day where everything goes right. or the one where nothing does. with comcast business you get the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it— all backed by a dedicated team, 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. a federal arrest warrant has now been issued for brian laundrie, the fiancee of gabby petito. the fbi says the warrant is related to his activities after her death. it's been more than a week since laundrie's family says they last saw him, while authorities report their search at a florida nature reserve is coming up empty. cnn's leyla santiago has the details. >> reporter: a federal warrant has been issued for the arrest of brian laundrie. and of note here, this is for the use of unauthorized devices, specifically, a debit card and access to bank accounts. there is no mention of homicide. and remember, on tuesday, a coroner's initial determination of gabby petito's death was homicide. the fbi is still asking for the public's help, asking for any sort of tips for anyone who may have seen the couple. and they are also digging through quite a bit of evidence. the car that was towed away when the fbi was at the laundrie's home where the couple lived, on monday did return to the driveway on thursday. in the meantime, the search continues at the carlton reserve, that 25,000 acre wildlife reserve, where teams have been trying to see if they can find any sort of clue that might lead them to brian laundrie because police say the parents claim that is where he was headed the last time they saw him. back to you in the studio. >> leyla santiago there. now, as the search for laundrie intensifies, cnn's amara walker has a time line for us about what we know about gabby petito's disappearance. >> reporter: a smiling gabby petito at arch's national park, the photo posted on her instagram page august 12. the statement day she appears distraught on body camera footage from police in the lab in utah reporting a domestic dispute between the 22-year-old and her 23-year-old fiancee brian laundrie. >> it's a long day here. camping yesterday. >> reporter: petito telling police she and laundrie were under a lot of stress. >> we were traveling across the country. >> reporter: the couple was living a self-described nomadic life-style documenting their journey along the way. >> really nice and sunny today. >> reporter: this youtube video was posted one week after the run-in with moab police. on august 25th, this last post was made on petito's instagram account. it was the next day on august 26 that a woman tells the san francisco chronicle she saw laundrie in his van in spread creek, a camping ground near where petito's body was discovered. >> i'm 100% certain i did see him parking his van. it was just him. there was no gabby. >> reporter: a day later the petito family received what they believed to be the last text message from her. quote, can you help stan? i just keep getting his voice mails and missed calls. petito's mother found the text odd telling police she never called her grandfather by that name. that same day a louisiana couple says they saw petito in tears and laundrie visibly upset during an incident at a jackson, wyoming, restaurant. >> she was crying. he walked back in and was screaming at the hostess. >> reporter: august 29 she picked up laundrie and petito near where the remains were discovered. >> she's been encampmentping multiple days without his fiancee. >> reporter: the next day the petito family received the last message from petito's phone, but skeptical it came from her. note, no service in yosemite. they returned to the north port florida home he shared with petito and his parents, but without petito. a neighbor said she last saw him outside the family home the weekend of september 10. >> i thought it was just, again, a normal, they were going for a walk kind of, you know, thing. so never thought anything about it. >> reporter: it's the same weekend petito's family report her as missing on september 11th. the laundries refuse to cooperate with authorities. >> whatever you can do to make sure my daughter comes home, i'm asking for that help. >> reporter: days later laundrie disappears. his parents tell authorities their son left for the carlton reserve on september 14th. that evening authorities execute a search warrant and the couple's van and recover an sternt hard drive. it wasn't until four days later september 18 the authorities began a massive search for carlton for laundrie. human remains are found in a remote location near grand teton national park. they confirm the remains found were those of gabby petito. ruled a homicide. brian laundrie has not been named a suspect nor has he been charged in the death of gabby petito. in fact, the fbi continues to ask the public for help for any information regarding his whereabouts or any role he may have played in her death. in the meantime, the search will resume for brian laundrie here at the carlton reserve on friday. in venice, florida, amara walker, cnn. now, cnn spoke earlier with a former fbi profiler about what it means for the investigation now that an arrest warrant has been issued for laundrie connected to his activities following petito's death. have a listen. >> i think they want to lock in two things. an indictment gives them the ability to get a arrest warrant, which is something that they need to actually really kick in the number of resources to try to track him down. the grand jury that they convened gives them grand jury subpoena power. so they can get more records and so forth. but it also locks down anybody from helping him now. once charges are filed, you can file an obstruction of justice charge against those persons that help him continue to be on the lam. >> at least one person is dead and 14 others wounded after a mass shooting at a kroger grocery store near memphis, tennessee. police say the shooter is also dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. some employees hid in freezers or locked themselves in offices when shots first rang out. have a listen to how one cashier described the chaos. >> first started in the deli. and i heard some gunshots. we thought it was balloons popping. when it kept on going, we said, no, that's gunshots. and he kept on shoot being, shooting, shooting. he shot one of my coworkers in the head and then shot one of the customers in the stomach. and then my other customer got kind of like cuts because of the asphalt. >> tawana french was in the kroger parking lot about to walk into the store when the shooting began. she spoke to cnn's anderson cooper about that terrifying experience. >> i arrived at kroger during a lunch break, and as i approached the door, before i actually entered the door, a family, a lady with like four children, rushed the door, pushing three in front of her, dragging one behind her, falling on the ground and screaming at the children to just run. just run. and a man out of the door ran at the same time that she came out, and in a split second i hear gunfire, like four shots. >> and you knew right away it was gunfire? >> yes. >> so you're standing near the doors. what do you do? >> i turn around, go back towards the parking lot to my car. before i could get to my car, maybe five or six cars down the parking lot, i hear gunfire again, and it was what seemed like a lot of gunfire in quick succession like pow, pow, pow, pow. and i just wanted to leave that space. i wanted to leave -- >> and that was coming from inside the store still? >> yeah, well, i was not inside. i was inside the first doors. and before i actually stepped inside the store, that's when i heard the gunfire. w i was on my way inside the store. the gunfire happened and i immediately turned around. >> french added that this particular kroger is always crowded. according to police, 44 people were working when the shooting took place. now, the u.s. president takes his biggest step yet towards uniting indo-pacific allies and countering china. after the break we're live in beijing with reaction to what's being called a diamond of democracies. also, a mask mandate becomes an explosive issue at a school district in florida. so much so that some parents had a go at school officials. >> it is affecting some children mentally and causing mental health issues, affecting personal relationships, romantic and even students. >> your hungry dictatorship has gotten out of control. fall asl, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is q qun. you have always loved vicks vapors. and now you'll really love new vicks' vapostick. it goes on clear and dries quickly. no mess. just the soothing vicks' vapor for the whole family. introducing new vicks vapostick. in business, it's never just another day. it's the big sale, or the big presentation. the day where everything goes right. or the one where nothing does. with comcast business you get the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it— all backed by a dedicated team, 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. updating you now on the breaking news, pfizer covid booster shots can now be officially administered to millions of adults in the u.s. just after midnight, the cdc director approved a booster dose in people 65 and older and residents in long-term care facilities. but also for those aged 18 and over with underlying health conditions and those at high risk because of their occupation. now, as vaccine boosters get the nod from the cdc, face masks remain a big no for some americans. case in point. a school district in florida, which wants to mandate masks for children, but as nick valencia reports, that is not going down well with some parents. >> today was my son's last day in public school with the school district of palm beach county. and i couldn't be happier. >> reporter: upset parents confronted the palm beach county school board wednesday night over the district's mask mandate. a crowd of parents, some who sat for hours to be heard, blasted the school board for defying florida's republican governor with a no-opt-out mask mandate and instituting scientifically proven covid mitigation protocols. no one spoke in favor of masking. and some who did speak couldn't contain their anger. >> you need to step up and [ bleep ]. this is ridiculous. >> turn off the microphone. watch the language, ma'am. >> reporter: desantis issued an executive order earlier this year blocking mask mandates in schools. that order was upheld in a federal court earlier this month. at least two people were escorted out for disrupting the meeting, including this woman who says the decision of masking students should be left up to parents. do you worry at all that your children might get the virus, not wearing a mask might spread the virus? >> i feel that from what i can gather, that if they did catch the virus, it's not so bad in children. >> reporter: according to the american academy of pediatrics, nationwide there were nearly 226,000 new cases of covid-19 reported in children during the week that ended september 16. public health officials warn covid-19 cases could continue to rise now that so many schools have returned to in-person learning. >> we see more infections, more outbreaks in school settings. that's going to continue to build. schools will become sources of spread here in the northeast as well. >> reporter: like in new york where public school in east harlem was forced to return to virtual for more than a week after at least 19 covid-19 cases were identified among staff. districts with no mask mandate are of particular concern to health officials. in ohio, the governor is urging superintendents to require masks for students and staff after the state saw a 44% increase in cases among school-age children in early september. >> there's no place that you can run from the covid. every school district is surrounded by numbers of cases that are very, very high. >> we are seeing record cases in children that are school age across the country. >> reporter: dr. steven patrick of vanderbuilt university said measures like masking, social distancing, and proper ventilation can all help reduce infections among kids. something he says should be a top priority. >> what we're saying is help us out. help us parents, help us local school districts protect our kids, protect our communities and take the burden off of our children's hospitals and our hospitals as a whole. >> reporter: but in parts of florida, like palm beach county, it's not that easy. especially for these parents who say their children are being bullied and intimidated into following school rules. about 30 police officers were on hand at the meeting, which included comments from some small children in the district eager to return to normal. >> it's just ridiculous that we shouldn't have to wear if we don't want to. you were all not my parents and you shouldn't be the ones making my health decisions. thank you. [ applause ] >> reporter: nick valencia, cnn, palm beach county, florida. well, the u.s. government technically runs out of money at the end of this month unless congress acts pretty quickly. a u.s. senate vote is expected monday to avoid a shutdown, but progressives are getting impatient over the slow pace of their ambitious domestic agenda. the precise details and price tag have yet to be worked out, but senate majority leader chuck schumer says white house and congressional democrats at least agree on how to pay for it. >> the white house, the house and the senate have reached agreement on a framework that will pay for any final negotiated agreement. so the revenue side of this we have an agreement on. okay. thank you. the framework, an agreement of a framework. >> the political stakes for president biden are enormous with that looming shutdown just days away. we get the latest from cnn's phil mattingly at the white house. >> reporter: for president biden's domestic agenda there was no question this was a huge week. next week is going to be even bigger. what happens in between, very much an open question. the president on wednesday held nearly five hours of meetings with 23 democrats, house members, senate members, the democratic leaders, trying to at least lay the groundwork for some kind of breakthrough to actually break through on the impasse between moderates and progressives that has been really almost killing this proposal up to this point over the course of the last several weeks. now, there is no deal and there certainly wasn't a deal the day after either. what you heard and what you saw was a lot of follow-up, intensive follow-up behind the scenes i'm told from white house officials, and the congressional counterparts. but also a public announcement. a public announcement of an agreement on a framework of aimena menu of options to finance the deal. it is a small step in a process needing big steps going forward. but it is a component of the process. still, white house very clear it's part of a process. take a listen. >> now, i think as you may understand, it's important to have those discussions with the range of important leaders, including senator sinema, senator manchin, a range of members, about what those menu of options of revenue raisers look like. that's the process over the short term. >> reporter: here's the reality at the moment as the entire agenda hangs in the balance. house democratic leaders promised a vote on the $1.2 trillion senate passed infrastructure bill on september 27. that is monday, a few days away. moderates want that. progressives say they will kill that bill if there isn't significant progress to the point of passing the second piece of the agenda, $3.5 trillion economic and climate plan. that is nowhere near happening right now, and that is the basis for all of the behind the scenes conversations that are happening feverishly at the moment. the goal is to make as much progress as possible before monday. that is obviously working behind the scenes. the president i'm told will likely be involved again in short order. his staff obviously intensively engaged. there is a lot of urgency right now, but recognition, as one democratic lawmaker told me earlier today, this is too big to fail. this is too important for democrats who ran on these issues, who know they're going to have to run for reelection on these issues and don't want to leave with nothing to show for their time in the senate majority, house majority, and with their president in the oval office. that is kind of what's looming over everything right now. even in the rocky moment of these negotiations it's something white house officials believe will eventually carry the day. still, it's very clear there is a significant amount of work if they want to get things across the finish line. phil mattingly, cnn, the white house. now, just in a matter of hours, the leaders of the so-called quad countries will converge on the white house. india, australia, japan, and the u.s. working to deepen cooperation and provide a counter balance to china in the indo-pacific. steven jang is live in beijing. china at the top of the agenda. >> reporter: that's right, michael. you know, this mechanism really evolved from informal discussions of possible coordination and cooperation on regional policies to this more urgent dialogue. strategic issues in the region involving the highest level of the four countries really is because of china. and even though in a lot of their public statements they don't even mention this country, but beijing's leadership understands this. officially they are still sticking to their talking points, rejecting this so-called closed and exclusive clicks that are products of the cold war mentality, and saying organizations and mechanisms like this are doomed to fail. in state media we have seen harsher language. in global times insisting the quad is incapable of inflicting any harm to china because, in their words, the u.s. always abandons its allies like trash when it comes to defending its own interests, but also warning the other three members not to go too far in following the u.s. anti-china push or risk becoming in their words again, canon fodder when china fights back. this kind of rhetoric aside, though, it's really china's increasingly aggressive policies and actions in the region that have been really pushing these four members closer and closer together. and this is especially true on the security front with the chinese people's liberation army, for example, building all those manmade islands and militarizing them and clashing with japan in the east china sea, increasingly intruding into taiwan's air defense zone, not to mention these border skirmishes with india and its expansion of influence in the indian ocean. so i think all those developments really means securities likely to be top of their minds when these four leaders meet in the white house on friday. michael? >> and all four major trading powers with china trying to reign in. steven, thanks so much. good to see you, steven jiang there. well, heavy rain created flooderieses for parts of the u.s. northeast. the latest on the dangerous weather conditions. people are facing millions of them when we come back. ♪ ♪ ♪ aloha! isn't this a cozy little room? sorry your vacation request took so long to get approved, so you missed out on the suite special. but lucky for you, they had this. when employees are forced to wait for vacation request approvals,it can really cramp their style. i'm gonna leave you to it. um, just— with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in a single, easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com and schedule a demo today. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized 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i don't know, like 10 years. what? are you insane? what's a good credit score? go. 600. maybe if you're trying to pay thousands extra in interest rates. cut the confusion, get started with a free credit evaluation at creditrepair.com. now, evacuations underway in la palma in spain in the canary islands as a volcano erupts for a sixth straight day. hellish scenes, look at that there, as lava has destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses along with banana crops. and officials expect it to continue to erupt for days. experts say the floe has not slowed and hasn't yet reached the ocean. in some places, the lava wall stands as high as 12 meters. that's around 38 feet. so far no injuries or deaths have been reported fortunately. millions of people, meanwhile, in the u.s. northeast are under a flash flood watch, and the powerful storm is picking up steam in the atlantic. meteorologist derek van dam has the latest. >> it has been a soggy past 24 hours across the northeastern u.s. look at some of the rainfall totals here, exceeding 2 1/2 inches in portions of virginia. upwards of 2 inches for pennsylvania as well as new york. you can see just on the radar estimated rainfall lighting up like a christmas tree over the past 24 hours. it's picked up on some of that heavy rainfall as it continued to band in over some of the major metropolitan areas of d.c., philadelphia, baltimore as well as new york. and the threat isn't quite gone just yet. in fact, we still have roughly about 4 million people under a flood watch as we speak. you can see that indicated across southern new york state. western massachusetts, into portions of connecticut. even into long island as well. but these are starting to diminish with time, which is good news. because the cold front responsible for the training thunderstorms that brought the flood in are offshore in the course of the day. it's going to welcome in much cooler temperatures behind be it as well. we have another system, potent system moving across the great lakes that will bring showers and thunderstorms to the area. the story is the cool autumn temperatures over the eastern u.s. and then, of course, the tropics. we have to talk about how busy it is. we've just passed the peak of the atlantic hurricane season, but now we focus in on what is tropical storm sam, and it is gaining intensity and strength very quickly. 70 mile per hour sustained winds. the storm still several hundred miles off the windward islands. it is moving west at 15 miles per hour and it is anticipated to continue to rapidly intensify in the coming days. in fact, becoming a major hurricane by this weekend. and we are going to keep a very close eye on the exact direction of this storm, where it goes, the finer details still need to be ironed out. but this is one to watch for the potential of land falling impacts within the 7 to ten-daytime frame. that's it from me. >> derek van dam, thanks. the ryder cup is just hours away as the united states and europe prepare to battle it out on the links. and barcelona's woes continue in laliga. cnn's michael riddell has more in sports. >> the united states will be teeing off against europe, whistling straits in wisconsin. it is always one of the most exc exciting events in world sport. this one should be no exception. expect fireworks from europe. sending their big guns first in the foursomes. jon rahm and his spanish compatriot sergio garcia. the record points scorer, and they're going up against jordan spieth and justin thomas. europe are the under dogs. they have won seven of the last nine ryder cups. in nfl action, sam darnold scoring a couple of touchdowns as the panthers maintain their perfect start to the season. they're 3-0. and in laliga, barcelona remain unbeaten. they are having a miserable time. they had to settle for a goal draw. they had a player and their manager sent off. and they are tenth in the table. it's not going to be getting easier any time soon. barcelona played both madrid clubs next month. back to you, michael. >> all right, our thanks there to don riddell. and thank you for watching. i'm michael holmes. have appreciated your company. "early start" is next after a quick break. usaa is made for the safe pilots. like mac. who can come to a stop with barely a bobble. with usaa safepilot, when you drive safe... ...you can save up to 30% on your auto insurance. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. get a quote today. ♪ breaking this morning, a covid boost for some americans, how the cdc director went against her own advisers to get more shots in arms. bogus, a sham, a so-called audit, and now it's finally done. months and money wasted away in arizona to confirm biden won in november. and the first subpoenas from the house committee investigating the capitol riots, who is on the list and why. it is friday, september 24th. happy friday, everybody. end of the week. it's 5:00 a.m. in new york. thanks for getting an early start with us this morning. i'm christine romans.