globe. high value assets near china's stores to the second and third island chains and intercontinental and even the potential for global strikes. strikes from space even. >> reporter: not only the apparent technology the chinese are developing but the intent behind it. u.s. missile defense systems are designed to face east, west and north, officials say. detecting launches from russia and others. >> rather than flying over the north pole which would be the case launched atop a ballistic missile. this could go over the south powell and evade u.s. missile defense systems. >> reporter: international treaties govern the use of space for peaceful purposes but this race is a more daunting possib possiblibility. turning the final frontier into a potential battleground. this is clearly something the u.s. has been tracking. if you go back to last year's 2020 china military power report, the u.s. wrote that the -- china was looking to develop a range of nuclear forces and delivery options including hypersonic glide vehicles. >> oren liebermann at the pentagon, thank you. here to discuss is david sanger, the white house and national security analyst for "the new york times." david, thanks for joining us. the chinese government claims they actually launched a spacecraft, not a hypersonic missile. how credible is that? >> could well be that they, in fact, did launch a spacecraft and that it, in turn, could launch a hypersonic. we've seen the north koreans and the iranians at various moments conduct tests that would be useful for military purposes. but are under the cover of the space program. so it's entirely possible that what they are saying is literally true but also adds to their understanding of hypersonics. let's not forget, jake, who else is doing hypersonics? the united states and russia. so this is sort of the form of the new arms race. i'd be surprised if they weren't. >> reporter: the tests showed china made astounding progress on hypersonic weapons and far more advanced than u.s. officials realized. how could the u.s. government be so unaware of how far the chinese government was when it comes to developing this weapon? >> we haven't confirmed it, but the times, i don't think anyone else has yet, that the details of the financial times report are correct. but let's assume for a moment that it is correct. we have a long history of missing these developments. remember what started our space program in a big way and helped our missile program was the surprise of sputnik. but we've been surprised by nuclear tests, by pakistan and india. and israel. we've been surprised by north korean icbms. the chinese are pretty good at hiding this stuff. it couldn't surprise me at all if we missed one. >> in response to the financial times report, republican congressman michael gallagher who sits on the house armed services committee said the alleged test should, quote, serve as a call to action for the united states. what kind of action do you think the biden administration might actually take when it comes to china over this, if any? >> one of the interesting moves at the end of the trump administration was that president trump wanted to bring china into the negotiations on arms control. the new s.t.a.r.t. negotiations with russia. when new s.t.a.r.t. was first negotiated, a decade ago, china wasn't a piece of it. they've never been a part of our arms control negotiations. that idea didn't dw go anywhere but certainly there were people within the biden administration who tell me that they think at some point it may be right to get china into these negotiations. and certainly the new missile fields that we've seen being developed in china became clear on satellite photographs over the summer, suggest that they may be moving away from their minimal deterrent approach and trying to build up perhaps in anticipation of the fact they might have joined these negotiations and they have a nuclear force that is less than one-fifth of what the u.s. and the russians have. >> you're out with a new analysis in which it's titled washington hears echoes of the 1950s and worries, is this a cold war with china? you write that even if there isn't a formal cold war, quote, governments that plunge into a cold war mind set can exaggerate every conflict, convinced they are part of a larger struggle, unquote. how close do you think the u.s. is to this becoming a reality, a cold war with china? >> i think pretty close. the story i quote people like kevin rudd, the former prime minister of australia and china expert, saying it's more probable than not at this point. i think people get -- in washington are getting into a big definitional argument that -- about whether this looks exactly like the cold war with the soviet union of 35 or 40 years ago. and, of course it doesn't. why would it? the internet didn't exist at that time. we didn't have the kind of economic interdependencies between russia and the united states that we clearly have between china and the u.s. with u.s. and china, it's a technological race. it's an economic race and a military race. with russia it was only military. now i would argue that while the economic interdependencies might help us stay away from cold war behavior, certainly in the recent weeks, we've seen a lot of pretty bad cold war behavior. we've just been discussing one, but there was also the prisoner swap with the release of the wawei executive, the threats against taiwan. there's a lot of cold war reminiscent behavior under way between both powers. >> donald trump talked about and focused on china quite a bit. do you think the chinese government has changed its approach towards the united states since president biden took office. do you think that they were going to pursue this weapon no matter what, if trump was still in power or not? >> oh, sure. weapons like this take years to develop. the u.s. has been working on hypersonics for years. the chinese have been working on hypersonics for years. i don't think that was terribly related to president trump. the argument about president biden during the campaign, a year ago, was president trump saying he'd be soft on china. well, it was president trump who, until covid happened, was much softer along the way with the chinese. what i think we've seen with the biden administration, though, is they've been tough. they have not relaxed any of the trump-era tariffs at this point. and they have pushed back relatively hard. i think they are worried about the fact that they've pushed back so hard and the chinese have pushed back so hard there hasn't been an interchange between the two countries that would steer us away from the cold war. but i think we're headed into some really rough patches. remember the chinese have big economic problems of their own as we've seen particularly in recent days. we shouldn't exaggerate their threat. >> david sanger, thank you for your expertee, as always. can the president break up a fight between two key democratic senators and get his massive spending plans moving? that's next. also, former president and hall of fame caliber liar donald trump under oath. why was he facing questions? that's ahead. whether it's ensuring food arrives as fresh as when it departs... being first on the scene when every second counts... or teaching biology without a lab. we are the leader in 5g and a partner who delivers exceptional customer support and 5g included in every plan. so, you get it all, without trade-offs. unconventional thinking, it's better for business. i looked on ancestry and just started digging and found some really cool stuff... it was just a lot of fun. just to talk to my parents about it and to send it to my grandparents and be like, hey this person we're all related to look at this crazy stuff they did in arizona 100 years ago. it actually gives you a picture of their life, so you get to feel like you're walking the same path they did. ♪ ♪ feel stuck with student loan debt? move to sofi-and feel what it's like to get your money right. ♪ move your student loan debt to sofi—you could save with low rates and no fees. earn a $500 bonus when you refi-and get your money right. i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... ...me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there for her. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is the #1 prescribed biologic for people with crohn's disease. humira helps people achieve remission that can last. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. learn how abbvie could help you save on humira. hearing is important to living life to the fullest. that's why inside every miracle-ear store, you'll find a better life. it all starts with the most innovative technology. like the new miracle-earmini, available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small that no one will see it, but you'll notice the difference. and now, miracle-ear is offering a thirty-day risk-free trial. you can experience better hearing with no obligation. call 1-800-miracle right now and experience a better life. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. i'll shoot you an estimate as soon as i get back to the office. hey, i can help you do that right now. high thryv! thryv? yep. i'm the all-in-one management software built for small business. high thryv! ow. get a free demo at thryv.com. topping our politics lead, if there is one thing the democrats can agree on, it's this. failing to pass president biden's infrastructure bill and social programs package would be devastating for the democratic party in 2022. but that might be the only thing they can all agree on. negotiations over president biden's infrastructure bill and social programs package still have not produced a compromise that both moderates and progressives can live with. this as cnn's manu raju reports, key moderate democratic senator joe manchin is now embroiled in a public feud with the king of the progressives himself, senator bernie sanders. >> reporter: with the party's agenda at risk of collapsing, senator joe manchin has a message for bernie sanders. don't blame him. >> he says you're holding up the biden agenda. >> there's 52 senators who don't agree. okay? and there's two that want to work something out if possible in a most rational, reasonable way. >> reporter: sanders, a democratic socialist from vermont, pushing one of the most ambitious proposals. a reduction in greenhouse gases by 50%. tuition-free community college. paid family and medical leave. and expansion of medicaid which he considers a red line. and all to the tune of $3.5 trillion. but manchin, who hales from west virginia, a state donald trump won by nearly 40 points last year opposes many of those ideas. and wants to keep the price tag at $1.5 trillion. manchin in particular has angered sanders for saying this. >> i don't believe that we should turn our society into an entitlement society. i think we should stibl a compassionate rewarding society. >> does senator manchin not believe our children and grandchildren are entitled to live in a country and a world that is healthy and habitable? >> reporter: on a call with democrats, sources told cnn that president biden quipped that putting manchin and sanders in the same room could lead to, quote, homicide and last week the feud taking a new turn when they singled out kyrsten sinema in a west virginia newspaper writing that the political problem we face is that in a 50-50 senate we need every democratic senator to vote yes. we now have only 48. two democratic senators remain in opposition, including senator joe manchin. firing back, manchin said he will not vote for a reckless expansion of government programs. no op-ed from a self-declared independent socialist is going to change that. >> i don't have problems with any of that at all but thinks -- or anyone thinks they know west virginia and what we've done and continue to do for this country. >> reporter: manchin hearing it from both sides. >> tell joe manchin don't give in to this liberal manchin. >> if you see joe, tell him to keep up the fight, just like he's always done. >> reporter: but he feels no pressure in meeting his party's october 31st deadline. >> do you think it's possible to get this done by october 31st? >> i really don't know what the timing is. there's no rush on timing. let's do it and do it right. >> so sanders and manchin have also been sparring over the strategy to pass that $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan. manchin wants the house to ps that immediately. sanders supported a delay in order to get manchin and sinema to sign on to that safety package which has caused unease among top democrats. the number two democrat dick durbin told me there's, quote, high anxiety among democrats. he wants manchin and cinema to close the deal. >> high anxiety. manu raju, thank you. so you have bernie sanders and joe manchin locking horns. this started after sanders went after manchin in an op-ed in the newspaper in manchin's home state west virginia. and manchin really doesn't like it when people from outside west virginia come into west virginia. remember when vice president harris did a tv interview. do you think this is the end of it? will this completely stop the bill? >> no, look, i think that the public sparring is notable and reinforces some of the divisions that still exist among democrats over what provisions should be in this bill. but ultimately what really -- what this comes down to is whether or not democrats can come to some sort of agreement and can they do it by this self-imposed deadline of october 31st. >> the latest self-imposed deadline. >> missed a couple of the other ones. the white house today signaling that president biden is open to some of the proposals that senator manchin has put forward like means testing or cap on income for tax credit. also questions of whether they'll cut some of these entirely like clean energy or allow medicare to negotiate. progressives are open to not cutting programs entirely but scaling back how long they'll be funded for. so that's really what the challenge is now for biden. can he bring the democratic party along with senators manchin and sinema who hold the keys in the senate. >> democrats have been pleading with biden to get more involved. one house democrat telling reporters, he needs to get more involved. biden is holding meetings with key players, traveling to swing districts for -- giving speeches, talking about what's in the plan. but that's not enough for a lot of democrats. >> no. but the briefing today, a whole section at the top of it about all jen psaki listing all the various meetings that biden is having and the phone calls he will have when he goes abroad. for some democrats it's never going to be enough. but they keep zeroing in. the other thing that was interesting during this briefing, there's definitely some impatience. whether they have leverage or not, that's something else entirely. but the patience with the sinema/manchin faction seems to be wearing thin among democratic ranks but in the west wing as well. >> do you think the pressure on sinema and manchin is working? it seems from where i sit, it looks like it backfires in many ways. no disrespect meant to bernie sanders, but an op-ed in a west virginia newspaper for bernie sanders, i don't know how many joe manchin voters that -- >> three voters for bernie sanders in all of west virginia. >> he didn't do that bad in the 2016 primaries, in west virginia, but does that change the field? >> everybody has their own politics. bernie sanders isn't just doing this to affect west virginia. he's also doing this to show that he's fighting for this package so that his voters know it's going to occur. the neighborhood i grew up in, don't start none there won't be none. his return fire on bernie sanders was effective. he's an independent democratic socialist and nobody in west virginia is listening to that person. the question here is for people like joe manchin who think of themselves as majoritymakers for the democrats, they have to be careful he has to be careful he's not a majority taker. if they don't get a deal done here, people like raphael warnock who is up next year. he's not up in four years like manchin. he's up next year. he needs these deals to be done and joe manchin and sinema may be in the way. >> what about terry mcauliffe in virginia. he is very frustrated with this. >> you can imagine what he is saying in private because in public, he's going out and saying, quit your chitty chat there on capitol hill. i need you to do something to save me, and he is in a very, very tight race made tighter by the fact that we've seen in previous races in recent american history that pollsters aren't great at tapping into the trump vote. so it could be that youngkin is actually even ahead. so, yeah, there needs to be some action. but i just cannot understand the democrats thinking or some radical, you know, progressives, thinking that good strategy is to follow kyrsten sinema into the rest room or to put op-eds in west virginia newspapers to put pressure on manchin. they -- manchin in particular, you know, won his race in a state that went like by 5,000 points for donald trump. there's not going to be another manchin. they need him desperately. they should be sending him bouquets, not putting op-eds in his state to criticize him. >> but they'll need warnock and others up next year sooner than joe manch in. in warnock loses, the majority is over. >> some of the frustration you often see from progressives is that this debate is framed as if they are putting forth some radical solutions when, you know, if you were to put this bill on the floor, the majority of democrats would vote for $3.5 trillion. so you heard president biden himself a couple of weeks ago say this is two senators versus the rest of the party. he did try as well and progressives like to make the case and was effective in the op-ed in west virginia, that's debatable, but that these provisions are popular. they poll well. and so i think they feel that sinema and manchin are catering to people who wouldn't necessarily vote for them. >> but you say they're popular, but people don't know what's in the bill. you go out and say do you like -- so that's one problem. it hasn't been written. >> people aren't paying attention. they haven't been selling it. >> cnn, we -- i am sure you two have been doing this. i know i have. i'm sure you guys have, too. but we've been describing what's in the bill. people aren't that engaged. they're not really paying attention, i don't think. >> we haven't even gotten into where there is go to be further divisions in the democratic party. once you have to start removing some of these programs, that are popular among progressives, among the american people, what do you remove? child care, medicare? bernie sanders says we're not going to do that. >> if the whole thing went down and the administration had just focused on getting the virus under control and passing a big infrastructure bill, they would be in good shape. >> they were, except the progressives said we're not going to pass the infrastructure bill unless we get all this -- >> and that's put the whole party in danger. >> i want to ask you as a democratic strategist about what's going on in virginia right now which is, this weekend stacey abrams and kamala harris, the vice president, went out there to help mcauliffe campaign, engaging black church congregations and get voters to the polls. this seems like a very tight race and a very losable one. >> every operative working on any race in that state is saying it's very tight. sunday was the first souls to the polls sunday in virginia ever. that's why you saw all that activity happening over the weekend. >> they'd never done that before? >> no. >> now you've got also 370,000 people have voted, voters have voted since early vote started as of october 14th. a week or so old. that is already ahead of where they were in 2017. people are saying if terry mcauliffe is going to win he's going to win because of the early vote efforts and democrats are focused intently. >> i know you wanted to say something about the death of general colin powell. >> i did. i want to make sure -- his life obviously is a big moment and marking it is very important. we think about how does -- how we got a colin powell. he became chairman of the joint chiefs of staff because there were two interventions that mattered. one is the carter administration made sure that they found african-american generals who could get promoted back in the 1970s. that's how he got his first star. the second is when he had a mistake, or a falling down, when he wise a one-star general, two generals came to his aid. one was latino. first latino four-star. the second was an african-american. they intervened and made sure colin powell had another chance to prove what he could do which is how he got his second star in the military. he writes about it in his book and i say all that to say this. it's been 28 years since colin powell was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. today currently two african-americans among the 41 most senior military officials in all four branches of the military. if we're going to have another colin powell we have to have more diversified leadership and that means people need not only the opportunity to succeed but the opportunity to fall down and get back up. >> representation matters and it's not over. it's not done. colin powell didn't end the need for it. thanks to everybody. coming up next, defending the dossier. the man behind the document at the center of so much political drama speaks out for the first time. stay with us. but with carvana, i can finally breathe easy, buying my car 100% online without any tense negotiation. smells like the internet. shop now at carvana.com. when i'm not racing, i'm personalizing, just like how carvana lets you personalize your financing. you can customize your down payment and monthly payment in a matter of minutes for some truly dazzling results. financing has never felt so fabulous. ♪ (peaceful music) ♪ ♪ ♪ (battle sounds from phone) ♪ ♪ (battle sounds stop) ♪ ♪ (dragon roar from phone) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [doorbell] ♪ ♪ [doorbell] ♪ ♪ [doorbell] all the delivery. no delivery fees. dashpass. growing up in a little red house, on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged: kindness, honesty and hard work. over time, i've come to add a fourth: be curious. be curious about the world around us, and then go. go with an open heart, and you will find inspiration anew. viking. exploring the world in comfort. ♪ ♪ i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. breaking news. the u.s. state department watchdog is launching a series of new reviews into the united states' withdrawal from afghanistan. kylie atwood is live at the state department. what exactly is the inspector general going to look into? >> so the acting state department inspector general has alerted congressional committees that the state department inspector general is going to be essentially looking into a number of reviews. they are calling these oversight projects into the biden administration's chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. they'll focus on four specific things. the afghan special immigrant visa program, the processing of afghans to become refugees here in the united states. the resettlement of both those sivs and of those afghan refugees here in the united states. and also the planning and the execution of the chaotic withdrawal from the embassy in kabul and also the withdrawal of all those americans and all of those afghans that came out in that evacuation. now the acting inspector general said that she is letting congress know about these projects for two reasons. first of all because there's been extraordinary interest on this topic from these congressional oversight committees, and secondly because there's going to have to be a lot of accoordination with othe inspectior generals from the defense and intelligence community. this is just the beginning with regard to doubling down on looking closely at what happened with that withdrawal. what could have gone better. what didn't go so well and we'll learn more about this. but it is really extraordinary that they are letting congress know about their active work because traditionally, the inspector general says when we are doing ongoing probes we'll not let folks know what we're looking into. here they're charting a different path. >> kylie atwood, thank you. turning to our politics lead. it's filled with salacious claims about donald trump and it was part of a dramatic period of time that ended with special counsel robert mueller's testimony before congress. i'm talking about the infamous steele dossier. and now the former british spy behind that document, which was shared with the fbi, a document that claimed russian officials held compromising information on donald trump, now that former spy is speaking out and defending his work in a new interview with abc news. >> most of the world first heard your name about five years ago. but you stayed silent up until now. why speak out now? >> i think there were several reasons. the first and most important is the problems we identified back in 2016 haven't gone away. arguably that got worse and i thought it was important to come and set the record straight. >> cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider joins me. did mr. steele provide any evidence to back up the details? >> he didn't at all. despite billing this his first tv interview as a chance to set the record straight, christopher steele didn't provide any proof as to a lot of those claims that he made in that salacious dossier but he did address head-on two of the as yet unproven claims. the first one that michael cohen, the former fixer, former attorney who ended up going to prison that he travelled to prague during the election to meet with russian officials. something michael cohen has repeatedly denied. and christopher steele addressed the infamous tape that he says shows donald trump in 2013 in that hotel room at the ritz-carlton in moscow with prostitutes. this tape, of course, has never materialized. the former president denies it exists but steele stands by the fact he believes it might exist even though the department of justice inspector general said in their report in 2019 that one of the sources for saying that there was this tape actually came out to really be not truthful perhaps. and this is what steele said as to that. take a listen. >> one of your main directors spoke to the inspector general and said that especially it was word of mouth and hearsay. conversations with friends over beers. it was just talk. >> if you have a confidential source and that confidential source is blown or is uncovered, that confidential source would often take fright and try and downplay and underestimate what they've said and done. and i think that's probably what happened here. >> he's afraid? >> i think anybody that's named in this contact, particularly if they're russian, has every reason to be afraid. >> so you stand by the dossier? >> i stand by the work we did, the sources that we had and the professionalism which we applied to it. >> so jake, you hear there christopher steele refusing to back down from the allegations that were put forth in that salacious dossier. what was interesting at the end of the interview he was asked by george stephanopoulos if donald trump could potentially pose a national security threat if he were to run in 2024. christopher steele answered, yes, potentially, of course, that's because he says it pertains to what he wrote in the dossier and the threats that russia still poses when it comes to election interference. >> michael cohen/prague thing, we reported in 2017, cnn reported that the government official told us they thought it was a different michael cohen. >> exactly. >> and everyone says michael cohen has been so spoken out. why wouldn't he just own up to this if it happened. >> jessica schneider, thank you. just as we started thinking the delta variant was in our rear-view mirror. a warning about a new variant sending covid cases soaring across the pond. details, next. you could email an urgent question to lisa in marketing. and a follow up. and a “did you see my email?” text. orrrr... you could see her status in slack. and give lisa a break while you find someone online who can help. slack. where the future works. some things are good to know. like where to find the cheapest gas in town, and which supermarket gives you the most bang for your buck. something else that's good to know? if you have medicare and medicaid, you may be able to get more healthcare benefits through a humana medicare advantage plan. call the number on your screen now and speak to a licensed humana sales agent to see if you qualify. learn about plans that could give you more healthcare benefits than you have today. depending on the plan you choose, you could have your doctor, hospital, and prescription drug coverage in one convenient plan. from humana, a company with 60 years of experience in the healthcare industry. you'll have lots of doctors and specialists to choose from. and, if you have medicare and medicaid, a humana plan may give you other important benefits. depending on where you live, they could include dental, vision, and hearing coverage. you may also get rides to plan-approved locations; home delivered meals after an in-patient hospital stay; a monthly allowance for purchasing approved healthy food and beverages; plus an allowance for health and wellness items. everything from over the counter medications and vitamins, to first aid items and personal care products. best of all, if you have medicare and medicaid, you may qualify for multiple opportunities throughout the year to enroll. so if you want more from medicare, call the number on your screen now to speak with a licensed humana sales agent. learn about humana plans that could give you more healthcare benefits. including coverage for prescription drugs, dental care, eye exams and glasses, hearing aids and more. a licensed humana sales agent will walk you through your options, answer any questions you have and, if you're eligible, help you enroll over the phone. call today and we'll also send this free guide. humana, a more human way to healthcare. ♪ your new pharmacy is here. to help you compare prices, and save on your medication. amazon prime members get select meds as low as $1 a month. who knew it could be this easy? your new pharmacy is amazon pharmacy. in our health lead, police officers and their unions are holding the line against vaccine mandates from coast to coast. we just learned that more than one-third of chicago's police force defied the city's mandate by not reporting their status by friday's deadline. massachusetts is 600 state police officers short because of its mandate. and the seattle police union rt tells the associated press there could be a mass exodus ahead of that city's mandate midnight tonight. joining us, dr. paul offitt, children's hospital of philadelphia. this is obviously a very serious issue for the safety of cities. if officers get laid off or suspended. it's also a serious health issue for the officers themselves. listen to your friend dr. fauci. >> more police officers die of covid than they do in other causes of death. so it doesn't make any sense to not trying to protect yourself as well as the colleagues that you work with. >> i know that you support vaccine mandates, and i presume that you support them for police officers. how do you balance this if you are a mayor and a third of the force is not going to show up. that's a public health issue, too. >> no, it's -- if you had to pick the profession it's most at risk of suffering from this virus for being hospitalized by this virus. it's interesting, not health care workers. it's police officers because health care workers are always conscious of wearing masks and distancing to the degree they can. here you have a group interacting with the public, a public often in areas relatively undervaccinated. they need to protect themselves. what do you do when you can't get someone to get a vaccine that will protect them as well as everyone they come in contact with. this is an at-risk group refusing to do the one thing they can do to save their lives. >> dr. scott gottlieb tweeted about a new doelta-plus variant. uk reported its one-day biggest increase just as the new delta variant. this is not a cause for immediate concern but a reminder that we need robust systems to identify and characterize new variants. why is it hard to study these new variants? >> well, because you know, you want to make sure that they are occurring in areas where you can quickly identify the sequence and see what sequences have changed to allow them to be more transmissible. we've had three variants. the first, a virus that raised its head in wuhan was not really the variant. the first virus that left china was the first variant. d-614 that swept across asia and europe and the united states. killed hundreds of thousands of people. replaced by the alpha variant. then replaced by the delta variant which is particularly contagious. the delta variant''s contagious approaches the chicken pox. i can't imagine one much more transmissible than the delta variant. >> you're on the fda vaccine's advisory committee. i want to ask about this mixing and matching booster doses issue. somebody gets a -- two pfizers and then a moderna for their booster or whatever. if you had to vote on mixing and matching booster doses today, would you vote yes? >> again, it all depends on the data. you want robust data so people can feel comfortable if you get a johnson & johnson vaccine and boost with an mrna-containing vaccine that you have clearly evidence of a higher neutralizing antibody titer, et cetera. those studies are currently being done. i hope we can get them in hand soon because i think the public really needs direction on how to proceed here. >> the fda should rule on the moderna and johnson & johnson booster shots any day now. you were warning of this, quote, third dose fever last week. with all the data showing waning immunity, why shouldn't everyone of every age group rush to get their booster dose? >> so the question is what's the goal of the vaccine? if the goal is to prevent serious illness, the kind that causes you to seek medical attention or go to the hospital or worse, these vaccines are holding up very well, all of them. pfizer, moderna, johnson & johnson are holding up well. what happens over time, though, as you're neutralizing antibodies decrease which is true of any vaccine, then you start to see more asymptomatic infection. mildly symptomatic. how important to protect against that? if we're going to try and protect against that, the third dose may not be the last dose because even after the third dose you'll have some waning of protection. so i can see where this is really confusing for people. for most vaccines, most vaccines don't do a very good job at preventing asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. we're holding this vaccine to a higher standard. when you get a flu vaccine and asymptomatic infection you don't get a pcr test and then quarantine for ten days. >> i want to switch gears to the death of retired general colin powell. you have a lot of thoughts about how covid impacted his cancer battle and vice versa, how his fight with cancer impacted his fight with covid. and how anti-vaxxers are once again ignorantly using his death to push their inaccurate agenda about the efficacy of the vaccine. >> when people ask me the question, what's the worst thing anti-vaccine activists can say? the worst is when they say what do you care what i do? you're vaccinated. look at colin powell. he is a man in his mid-80s. multiple myeloma, which is a cancer of your immune system. he was likely being treated with agents that suppress his immune system. he wasn't going to develop a very good immune response so he needed the people around him to protect. when they say what do you care if i'm vaccinated? if vaccines were 100% effective, which is true of no vaccine and that everyone can be vaccinated, which is not true of people like colin powell. >> now it's a real slam. dr. paul offitt, thank you. donald trump and the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under oath today for the first time at the ex-president. we'll find out why, next. alberto and i don't fit into those other family plans. that's why we love visible. they do things differently. yeah, it's wireless with unlimited data and if you join a group it's as low as $25/mo. all powered by verizon. 5g included. woo! just get together and save! we look goooood! what's everyone's handle? visible. unlimited data, as low as $25/mo all-in. powered by verizon, 5g included. wireless that gets better with friends. you get more with aarp medicare advantage plans from unitedhealthcare. like $0 copays on tier 1 and tier 2 prescription drugs. ♪ wow! ♪ ♪ uh-huh. ♪ $0 copays on primary care visits. ♪ wow! ♪ ♪ uh-huh. ♪ and with unitedhealthcare, you get access to medicare advantage's largest provider network. ♪ wow! ♪ ♪ uh-huh. ♪ most plans even have a $0 premium. so go ahead. take advantage now. ♪ wow! ♪ been in the hospital for 76 days now. by the grace of god i'm still here. it was a lot of dark times then. i died three times. they gave me a 5% chance of living. we take advantage of, like, simple things in life. like going to the bathroom and brushing your teeth. i have trouble doing all that now-- the aftereffects of covid. so i highly recommend everybody to get the vaccines and really protect themselves because this is no joke. this may look like a regular movie night. but if you're a kid with diabetes, it's more. it's the simple act of enjoying time with friends, knowing you understand your glucose levels. ♪ hearing is important to living life to the fullest. that's why inside every miracle-ear store, you'll find a better life. it all starts with the most innovative technology. like the new miracle-earmini, available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small that no one will see it, but you'll notice the difference. and now, miracle-ear is offering a thirty-day risk-free trial. you can experience better hearing with no obligation. call 1-800-miracle right now and experience a better life. ♪ ♪ there are beautiful ideas that remain in the dark. but with our new multi-cloud experience, you have the flexibility you need to unveil them to the world. ♪ breaking news in our politics lead. former president trump just filed a lawsuit to keep secret records related to the deadly january 6th insurrection. the house special committee investigating asked for the documents. biden denied trump's blanket request leading to the lawsuit just filed. this is just the newest legal issue facing donald trump. today, trump was under oath facing questions in a completely different lawsuit stemming from an incident back in 2015 when he was a candidate. the suit claims that trump's former head of security keith schiller hit a protester in the head and also destroyed the signs of others demonstrating against then candidate trump. kara is outside trump tower where this incident occurred and lawyers questioned trump for four and a half hours today. what are they saying about his testimony? >> that's right, jake. four and a half hours and several years in the making. the lawyer for the plaintiff told reporters that the deposition began around 10:00 a.m. and ended about 2:30 p.m. he said just like anyone else, trump raised his right hand and swore to tell the truth. here's how he described the questions and trump's answers. >> we examined mr. trump concerning a variety of issues including statements he has made at various campaign events and rallies that counsel believes encouraged violence at those events or security guards to engage in violence or the confiscation of property. we secured answers to those questions and we intend to present mr. trump's sworn testimony to a jury in this matter as soon as possible. >> the lawyer did not say, he would not characterize trump's answers, whether specifically and he would not characterize whether he believed the former president's answers were truthful, saying that only everyone had seen donald trump on tv and he answered the questions you would expect him to and his conduct was that in the same way he has connected himself publicly. hard to read into what he means by that. but he also said that he believed this was a victory for the rule of law because donald trump did have to answer these questions after years of fighting it and he said in this case, it really proves that no one is above the law. jake. >> do you think this tape of the deposition is ever going to be made public? >> well, jake, that's what's so interesting here. this was a videotaped deposition, but it will be used at the trial. so when this goes to trial, it will be submitted as evidence. it's what the jurors will hear. jurors in bronx, new york. just north of manhattan. then it will become part of the public record. so we expect to see this videotape or a trypanscript of . >> thanks so much. coming up, a story of cocaine, out of control hippos and birth control. i dare you not to stick around for that tease. i just became eligible for medicare and, can i say? it's so overwhelming. a, b, c, d - all the different plans and all those stacks of mail? i didn't know where to start. then i called humana, and they helped make everything simpler. i talked to a real live agent who was kind, patient, and she told me about humana's all-in-one medicare advantage prescription drug plans. they include coverage for hospital stays, doctor office visits and prescription drugs. most plans include dental and vision coverage. and humana has a huge network of doctors and hospitals. i can get telehealth coverage, a silver sneakers membership, and i stay covered in emergencies when i travel. i can get all that for as low as a $0 monthly plan premium. humana went above and beyond to get to know me, so i can find the medicare advantage plan that is right for me. so call or go online and get your free decision guide. humana, a more human way to healthcare. (music) at aetna, we're putting all other medicare plans on notice. with coverage and services that may include a $0 monthly plan premium telehealth emergency coverage while you travel an over-the-counter allowance plus dental, vision and hearing. because the right medicare plan should make you feel... yeah, like that aetna medicare advantage plans medicare annual enrollment ends december 7th. call today to learn more. it's another day. and anything could happen. it could be the day you welcome 1,200 guests and all their devices. or it could be the day there's a cyberthreat. only comcast business' secure network solutions give you the power of sd-wan and advanced security integrated on our activecore platform so you can control your network from anywhere, anytime. it's network management redefined. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. if you're one of the most feared drug lords responsible for hundreds of deaths and launching a global cocaine empire, why wouldn't you want one of the world's most dangerous animals as a pet? that's what pablo escobar might have been thinking. in the '80s, the drug kingpin smuggled four hippos in from africa to be part of his private zoo. when he was gunned down and his properties were seized, the hippos were left to fend for themselves. instead of dying off, however, they've been living their best lives. the population has soared to more than 100. now colombian officials will start to chemically sterilize the animals. researchers say because the hippo has an unlimited food source and no large noatural predators in colombia. those animals are now permanently damaging the environment. not to mention a threat to humans. you can follow me on facebook, instagram, twitter and tiktok. if you ever miss an episode and you're on the subway, driving home, you can always listen to the link wherever you get your podcasts. our coverage continues with one mr. wolf blitzer. he is right next door in "the situation room." see you tomorrow. now general colin powell is remembered as a highly respected soldier, statesman and trail blazer. we're learning more about the death of the first black u.s. secretary of state and why he was so vulnerable to complications from covid-19. also breaking tonight. former president trump just filed a lawsuit to keep his records secret from the january 6th select committee. i'll speak live with a key member of the panel. we want to welcome our view ers in the united states and around