prepare to cast their votes as soon as tonight. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> we begin this hour with a killing of ahmaud arbery and the closely watched murder trial that is playing out in georgia. lawyers for all three defendants resting their case just a little while ago. cnn's martin savidge is covering this breaking news for us. >> reporter: travis mcmichael taking the stand in his own defense for a second day in the trial for the killing of ahmaud arbery. the lead prosecutor continuing to go after him during cross-examination. >> you also could have stepped around the back of the truck and followed him in the path that way, is that right? >> yes. but then he would have had open unrestricted run around the truck and into my open door and into my pickup truck and -- >> so you're telling this jury that a man who has spent five minutes running away from you, you're now thinking is somehow going to want to continue engage with you, someone with a shotgun, and your father, a man who just said stop or i'll blow your [ bleep ] head off by trying to get into their truck? >> that's what it shows, yes, ma'am. >> reporter: attempting to purge holes in his testimony. >> do you remember if he grabbed the shotgun at all? and your response was, i want to say he did but honestly i cannot remember. i mean we were, me and him were face-to-face the entire time. do you remember saying that. >> yes. and i was trying to think of that exact moment. trying to give him as much detail as possible under the stress and all of this going on. it was obvious that he had the gun and he had the weapon in the way that i was describing it, but he did not have the gun at that second -- >> reporter: also pressuring him on his self defense claim. >> and you were right there and you just pulled that trigger immediately. >> no i was struck. and he was -- we were face-to-face and that is when i shot. he started striking and he was on me, he had his shirt or something to that point and i had the gun and i was too close to draw on him. >> he's striking you and you have the gun up in this thing and you can't draw down on him and it is just a struggle and he's on you and you're going back and forth in front of the truck? >> yes. >> reporter: and the prosecutor calling out the alleged intent to make a citizens arrest. >> during your statement to the police, did you say that you and your father were trying to arrest mr. arbery, did you in? >> no ma'am. >> reporter: pastors al sharpton and jesse jacks and martin luther king iii and attorneys ben crump and lee merit joining the arbery family for a prayer vigil organized by the reverend al sharpton. ben crump speaking to wolf blitzer last night about what this is like for the family. >> if this was your child, how would you be able to keep composure after you see these people lynch him and then you see them offer this self-defense. >> reporter: earlier kevin goff attorney for william roddy bryan jr. filed a motion to keep the reverends out of the courtroom. the judge once again denying the motion. and later on, goff objecting to this question from the state. >> do you believe that someone stealing is deserving of death penalty -- >> objection. >> reporter: goff calling for a mistrial. it was denied. the judge admonished the prosecutor and instructed the jury to disregard the question. by the end of the day, the defense resting their case. >> with that understanding, we rest. >> reporter: and after that, wanda cooper jones, ahmaud arbery mother came out and went on camera and thanks the prosecution for their hard work. as for the jury, the judge told them not to return to court until 9:00 monday morning when they should expect closing arguments. here is the thing, wolf, three defendants plus the prosecution, six hours at least for those closing arguments. wolf? >> we'll see what happens. thank you very much. let's get more to the trial and joining us now chris stewart and also with us bakari sellers the author of the book "my vanishing country". >> chris, you represented ahmaud arbery mom as she fought for charges to be brought. i wonder what you made of the prosecution's methodical questioning of the defendant today? >> wolf, that was a definition of surgical. i mean, that was a lesson for every trial lawyer out there. she made us all proud as trial attorneys. she cut him to pieces. she made him keep repeating the same lie which no one could keep straight. it was surgical. >> bakari, did the prosecution do what they needed to do poke holes in the claims about what led him to shoot and kill ahmaud arbery? >> no doubt, wolf. and i think one of the things that we saw, i think chris said it best was surgical but it gave people a lot of hope and you have to remember that it was one and not two prosecutors who saw this video and still refused to press charges. that is why many of us have this h hesitancy in our heart about how this case going to end up. but this prosecutor and the way that she handled their defense, the way that she handled them on the stand, the way that she walked the jury through the lies and the deceit and misconceptions, the way she poked holes in the defs, it is the way that it should have been done and it gives people hope that maybe justice will be served because our heartaches for that community and that family. >> she was tough indeed. very effective. chris, we also heard the judge admonish a prosecutor who asked a witness, do you believe that someone stealing is deserving of the death penalty. was that question inflammatory and irrelevant as the judge insisted? >> well it wasn't needed. but it wasn't to the level of causing mistrial or anything of that nature. but it is a difficult thing, what happened today, the defense brought all of these random neighborhood people who tear trying to just get the jury to like and affiliate with the mcmichaels, which is nonsense. who didn't have much information but you can't really cross them because what are you are going to ask him, about the neighborhood app or facebook post group and so it is a difficult position. so the question wasn't needed. but it is a very interesting tactic the defense tried. but that is still not going to work. >> it is interesting, bakari, and i'm anxious to get your thoughts on this, it is a special moment that we're witnessing right now. two high-profile trials playing out at the same time in wisconsin and georgia. what do those trials say to you about justice in our country? >> well i think that we see two shems of justice in this country. and you can't help but to think of other individuals who did not get the grace or the benefit of their humanity. you can't help but think of someone like tamir rice or cal eat prouder and place those individuals in similar circumstances as a rittenhouse and see they did not get the grace that their youth should grant them. in the case of arbery, it is -- i don't know how chris feels, i'm interested to hear what he said but we're to apprehensive because it is rare we get justice in cases like this. where it appears that someone was hunted down, it appears that there was a premeditation because it was on camera, and so when you look at these two cases and i'm actually happy that the world gets a chance to see our justice system at work. chris and i are in courtrooms every single day. but to see the prevision and what goes on in these trials, to see the uphill battle that many people of color face, it is 11 white jurors down trying this case with ahmaud arbery. and so it is a very difficult proposition for black folk to get justice. and i think people watching these cases can see how justice is dolled out differently in this country. >> let me get chris's thoughts. what do you think, chris? >> you know, it's a tale of two situations. i think what we're seeing right now with both of these trials playing out is that african-americans don't get the benefit of the doubt. we don't get the benefit of the doubt if we're jogging that we're not up to breaking into someone's house or we're not a threat. we don't get the benefit of the doubt if we're caring a firearm but i won't carry because i know i won't get the benefit of the doubt that i'm a law-abiding citizen. ahmaud arbery was not looked at as a regular jogger, just minding his own business. but in the rittenhouse case, he walked right by law enforcement with an ar-15. we just don't get the benefit of the doubt which we know is an ill of this world that has to get fixed. >> thanks for joining us. we're going to continue to follow all of these trials obviously. and just ahead, former white house jeef of staff mark meadows is now floating a rather wild idea, he said would make people go crazy. he said if republicans were to win back the majority control of the house of representatives next year, their new speaker should be the former president of the united states, donald trump. stay with us. we'll explain. you're in "the situation room." everything you've seen me do was made possible by what you don't see. cause when you're not looking, i go to work. ♪ strength isn't a given. it's grown. it's earned and tested. ♪ we all have the strength to see what's possible. it's up to us to unlock it. tonal. be your strongest. >> man: what's my safelite story? 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(jackie) talk to your doctor about austedo...it's time to treat td. td is not ok. visit askforaustedo.com. try garlique healthy immune support formula. uniquely formulated with garlic, vitamins and minerals to support a strong, healthy immune system. garlique. we're following breaking news right now up on capitol hill. a critical cbo congressional budget office cost analysis for the biden social spending bill has just been released. as democrats push toward a house vote maybe as soon as tonight. let's go tour senior white house correspondent phil mattingly. tell us about the latest cbo estimate and what happens now. >> this cost estimate are critical because there are a handful of moderate democrats that are clear they are not willing to move forward on the centerpiece of the $3 trillion domestic agenda until they have the cbo score and they're reassured the bill is fully paid for. that cost estimate just released by the congressional budget office finds that over a ten-year period, this proposal that house democrats are trying to pass as soon as tonight would add $367 billion to the deficit. however, and this is a very key caveat, that score does not include the revenue that would be raised by the president's tax enforcement proposal and the basic idea is that the white house and the treasury department have analyzed that it would raise $400 billion, in other words more than the $367 that the cbo adds to the deficit. and why does this matter? white house officials and treasury officials have been working for weeks to make clear that they believe that the cbo estimates as it related to irs tax enforcement don't line up with what the reality would be. they essentially have an audience of six or seven moderate democrats. if they are convinced that the treasury analysis on that front is good enough, $400 billion, then this bill is fully paid for and things will be moving forward tonight. that's the open question right now. but i will tell, myself and my colleagues lauren fox and manu raju have been talking to the moderates over the last several days and they felt comfortable with the treasury estimates when it came to that. so here is what going to happen going forward. right now the house is in the middle of debate about the process being laid out. they will vote on a rule to govern the debate on the final bill including any changes to the overall proposal and then that will set up the final debate for a final vote to pass this roughly 1.7, $1.8 trillion proposal. and when you look at what is inside, you talk about $300 billion for climate, the largest in history. paid leave proposals, chiemd tax credit proposals, $300 billion for childcare, universal pre-k, these are the issues that they have pushed for for years if not decades an that is the verge of passing in the house likely in the next couple of hours if nancy pelosi and white house officials are able to lock in the final votes. that is what we're waiting for now. and all sides here on the white house and the democrats want to vote tonight and they think they can. >> she's probably not going to let it come up for a vote unless she's 100% sure it will pass. they lose three or four democrats they're in deep, deep trouble. once it passes the house to dos to the senate where it is still very problematic. phil mattingly at the white house. let's turn to the republicans and eye popping idea about who should be the next house speaker if the gop were to win back the majority next year. listen to what the former white house trump chief of staff mark meadows is now proposing. >> i would love to see the gavel go from nancy pelosi to donald trump as -- you talk about melting down. people would go crazy. as you know, you don't have to be an elected member of congress to be the speaker. wouldn't you see -- she would go from tearing up a speech to having to give the gavel to donald trump, oh, she would go crazy. >> let's discuss with cnn political commentator republican congressman charlie dent and cnn correspondent jamie gangel. so charlie, as a former house republican yourself, what is your reaction to this suggestion from mark meadows that former president trump should actually serve as the next house speaker if the republicans regain the majority next year? >> i think it is a terrible idea obviously. but i think this is really is about, there seems to be a growing discontent among some members and people with marjorie taylor greene, ken mccarthy, mark meadows is suggesting donald trump become the speaker. it was mark meadows and the freedom caucus who in 2015 prevented kevin mccarthy from ascending to the speaker role and they wouldn't support him and that is how paul ryan became speaker. co gather 218 republican votes. so it sounds like there is a lot of problems in terms of kevin mccarthy ascending if he has these folks on the outside nipping at him right now. but putting donald trump in would be insane. >> and are these comments from mark meadows a message from former president trump himself? >> absolutely. mark meadows is donald trump's messenger and it may be an insane idea but i would say it is not an impossible idea. let's remember a couple of things. donald trump loves to be in the spotlight. he loves chaos. he loves disruption. this is donald trump's republican party. this gop conference, if he really did something like this, these are people who go on bending knee to get his endorsement, i think they would vote for him. and i think the other thing to remember is, it is not just as charlie said that there are people outside who with hot happy with kevin mccarthy, donald trump has made it clear that he still hasn't for given mccarthy for even though it was just a couple of days, for going against him after january 6th. i would say there is one group of people who would be happy about mark meadow saying that today and that is every democratic consultant who makes ads, you can be sure that every democrat who is running for congress is -- is interested in the idea of running against donald trump. >> interesting. charlie, the former president trump, he's just endorsed representative paul gosar, the day after he was formally censured by the house for posting an anime video depicting him killing a fellow lawmaker. and trump is happy with what he's seeing right now, is he not. >> apparently is. republicans had such a good night a couple of weeks ago in virginia and new jersey and many other places around the country. er that trying to distance them sfz from donald trump and because of paul gosar and marjorie taylor greene and donald trump embracing these wildly outrageous and incendiary actions, the republicans are making it about themselves again and the most wild extreme elements. in you want to win the midterms you wan to make this about the democrats and their agenda. but if the incendiary folks are on the stage make these outrageous comments and awful videos, how does that help the republican party. none of this makes any sense. think what happened, on tuesday they spent the better house of the morning in the republican conference excoriating john katko for voting for a infrastructure bill. he's a good honorable man in a swing district and remaining silent about paul gosar's horrible video. that resulted in a censure. so this doesn't make any sense from a political perspective. >> you make a good point. so jamie, what does this all this say about what is going on in today's republican party? >> well, as charlie said, you really wonder what they're doing. but just look at the numbers on that censure vote. only two republicans voted against gosar. and their names won't surprise you. liz cheney and adam kinzinger. everybody else in the republican conference, people who privately will tell you that they think that gosar is appalling, but publicly on that vote, they stood with gosar. some of them even came and stood in the well of the house. i would just say once again this is donald trump's party. and that vote said it all. >> we're showing some video of when he was censured yesterday and he was in the well of the house of representatives. charlie dent and jamie gangel, thank you very much. coming up, the jury wraps up a third day of deliberations in the homicide trial of kyle rittenhouse. we'll ask our legal team what the expected deliberations, the extending deliberations could suggest in this case. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." and there isn't one definition of what well feels like. there are millions. johnson & johnson is building your world of well. 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>> you know. i really don't think you could draw any serious conclusions from the length of the deliberation. it is not a lot deliberation. it is a complicated trial. the jury instructions are a mess as the the judge himself acknowledged. he should have -- he should have done a better job. jury instructions in the best of circumstances i find are very difficult for ordinary civilians to understand, these are an specially confusing set of instructions so i think three days of deliberations is not a particularly long time. i think if they go beyond tomorrow, that will suggest significant disagreement because jurors often wrap up things on fridays. they don't want to have to worry about it over the weekend. so i think tomorrow is a big day where we might learn something about how this jury is going. >> i suspect you're right. elliott, as we noted, the judge just agreed to let the jury take home the instructions he provided them. and i've gone through 36 pages of these instructions, very confusing indeed. you sort of need a law degree to understand what is going on. what do you make of that decision? >> look, it is not just that there is 36 pages, the judge read these to the jury. that took probably several hours to get through. and the jury is just expected to recall what they heard. they're -- setting aside the question of whether they were poorly written or there were errors, it is just confusing to explain concepts of intent and reasonableness and reasonable doubt and so on. and expect lay people to then go be alone in a room for several days and then try to apply it to the facts of a case. so it is entirely not unreasonable to send the jurors home with them. and you can't discuss with your family what your deciding here, no notes that you took from the jury room. but that is entirely reasonable given the complexity of any legal case and particularly this one with five different charges and abstract concepts that most folks don't understand. >> you make a good point. jors have asked to review all sort of evidence as they deliberate. first of all, how essential 1 is the video evidence in this case? >> well i think it is good that the jury asked to see the video evidence. it's the central evidence in the case. jurors tend to trust video more than they trust witnesses themselves because there are no issues of bias or failures of recollection. of course video doesn't answer all of the questions but i think this is something judges should encourage, which is going over the evidence in a careful way, ju jurors just get to see stuff once usually in a trial so the fact that they're going back suggests they're doing a thorough job. i don't know if it means good or bad for either side but i think it is good to see a jury doing a serious job. >> i totally agree. the judge slv raider banned msnbc today after the freelancer was stopped for following the jury bus after a day's deliberation. was that an appropriate response. >> it was and here is why. there is very serious questions about -- setting aside the first amendment and reporters need to inform the public, there are serious questions about juror safety and this is a tile in which they were not sequestered in a hotel room. did he have to ban all nbc reporters, not necessarily. he could just ban this one individual. but the end of the day judges have very broad discretion to control what happens in the courtroom and this is about keeping jurors safe. >> wolf, i've covered a lot of trials, one reel -- one rule is you don't mess with the jury. you don't follow them or talk to them. this is a pretty bad violation if this is what this freelancer was doing. >> good point. thank you very much. just ahead, i'll speak with the former director of the cdc about a concerning rise in hospitalization rates among vaccinated americans. ♪it's a most unusual day♪ ♪feel like throwing my worries away♪ ♪as an old native-born californian would say♪ ♪it's a most unusual day♪ ♪it's a most unusual sky♪ ♪not a sign of a cloud passing by♪ ♪if my heart won't behave in the usual way♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list event. fine, no one leaves the table until your finished. fine, we'll sleep here. ♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. 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(judith) yep, we do better when our clients do better. at fisher investments we're clearly different. >> man: what's my safelite story? my truck...is my livelihood. so when my windshield cracked... the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me... with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ we expect the fda to make a major decision potentially expanding covid vaccine booster doses to all americans 18 and older very, very soon. dr. fauci said new data showing an increase in hospitalization among fully vaccinated people who haven't received a booster, he said that is a cause for concern. let's discuss with the former cdc director dr. thom frieden. thank you so much for joining us. how worried are you about new data showing an uptick in hospitalizations among the fully vaccinated, especially those who have not received a booster? >> well, wolf, let's be clear. what is driving the uptick in the u.s. is not breakthrough infections after vaccination. it is infections among people would haven't been vaccinated. so the main driver of the illness and still a thousand deaths a day in the u.s. is the failure to reach every corner of the country and get that last 30% of the country vaccinated. it is also true that it does appear that vaccine induced immunity wanes in time and so when you are eligible, get one. but the vaccines are extremely effective at preventing severe illness and hospitalization and death. >> should the fda go ahead and authorize boosters for all american adults 18 and older? are we expecting a decision very soon. >> i think we're going to have to see what all the data shows. the general feeling is that we'd rather be safe than sorry and if it looks like vaccine is waning, then to recommend a booster. that doesn't mean that we're going to need boosting every six months. we need to figure out how long immunity lasts and some things just take time to figure out. you can't really find that out until time passes. we do hope that when we optimize the dose schedule, we could get a longer lasting immunity. we may do that with multiple vaccines, with a tweaked vaccine. but in any case, what we do know is that vaccines are saving tens or hundreds of thousands of lives in the u.s. and around the world, the more people get vaccinated, the safer we'll all be. >> you're absolutely right. only two months or so ago that the fda and the cdc decided to limit booster eligible to older an high risk americans. are you worried that decision could cause unnecessary confusion now that it looks like boosters will soon be available to almost all adults? >> the key element to responding effectively to an emergency situation is learning more every day, every week. and adjusting our practice based on what we learn. so let's see what we're finding out about breakthrough infections in young healthy people and see what fda recommends vm we have to do more to scale up access to vaccination around the world today. it is just morally unacceptable that americans are getting thirds before many people around the world are eligible for firsts. >> let's see what happens. we expect a decision very soon. dr. frieden, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> coming up, closing arguments in the civil trial targeting organizers of a deadly 2017 rally in charlotteville, virginia, involving white supremacist and neo-nazis. 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(laughing) that was easy. what! i mean, i love you guys. the lexus rx: built for modern families. bye mom. my helpers abound, i'll need you today. our sleigh is now ready, let's get on our way. a mountain of toys to fulfill many wishes. must be carried across all roads and all bridges. and when everyone is smiling and having their fun i can turn my sleigh north because my job here is done. it's not magic that makes more holiday deliveries to homes in the us than anyone else, it's the hardworking people of the united states postal service. a dark and deadly moment during the trump presidency is being relived right now in charlottesville, virginia, in a courtroom. white supremacists and others who organized unite the right rally are on trial. brian todd is joining us from charlottesville, tell us more about this trial and the closing arguments that were delivered today? >> reporter: right, wolf. just a short time ago one of the most notorious defendants christopher cantwell delivered his closing arguments. he's representing himself. he argued that he never planned to commit violence and did not want violence but the plaintiffs attorneys have just finished presenting a trove of evidence claiming otherwise. the case against organizers of the 2017 charlottesville unite the right rally not only alleges the rally was racist, and brazenly anti-semitic with the nazi chants. the plaintiffs say the organizers intentionally planned to cause racial violence and aliable for injures. white nationalists charged with flagpoles and showing organizers dussinging the potential for violence. quote, cracking skulls and even whether it is legal to drive into protesters. for example, quote, fight the s out in the streets, is how one organizered urged followers to come. >> the defendants in this case used all kinds of electronic communication discord chat, twitter, texting and they talked a lot and they talked a lot about the kind of violence that they expected to foresee and that is damaging for them i think. >> reporter: but the organizer saz they didn't plan the violence. it wasn't their fault and what they said before the rally was hyperbole and is protected free speech. >> their best argument is that they didn't agree to commit violence. that is the central part of the conspiracy claim. >> some are serving as their own lawyers seizing the soap box, >> it's not surprising to see that, a, they would try to use the proceedings in order to further share their hateful ideology, make it difficult for those who are bringing the case against them. it's also not surprising to see how they would turn on each other and start arguing. >> defendant richard spencer blamed other organizers and invoked jesus and he argued he never wanted violence. but he grew visibly frustrated when the judge told him he couldn't quote donald trump since that wasn't part of the evidence in the trial. >> you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. >> reporter: some of the nine plaintiffs testified about the injuries they suffered, not just from the street brawls but when james field plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one. natalie romero suffered a skull fracture. thomas baker said he thought he would die and still has hip pain. and marcus martin said his leg was broken as he has told cnn. >> there's a lot of pain. there's a lot to cope with. >> reporter: if the plaintiffs win, it could be financially costly for some of america's notorious white supremacists. >> if this can help cripple that even a little bit, this is a victory against those who want to continue the polarization in this country, to normalize their hateful views, and the violence that is often not far behind. >> reporter: one of the plaintiff's attorneys, roberta kaplan, has asked for $7 to $10 million each in compensatory damages and award others who were injured that weekend $3 to $5 million each. as for punitive damages roberta capkaplan did not put a number it but said what would it take for these defendants never to do this again. >> brian todd in charlottesville, thank you very much. more news right after this. bipolar depression. it made me feel like i was trapped in a fog. this is art inspired by real stories of people living with bipolar depression. i just couldn't find my way out of it. the lows of bipolar depression can take you to a dark place... ...and be hard to manage. latuda could make a real difference in your symptoms. latuda was proven to significantly reduce bipolar depression symptoms and in clinical studies, had no substantial impact on weight. this is where i want to be. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor about unusual mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients on latuda have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, as these may be life threatening... ...or uncontrollable muscle movements, as these may be permanent. these are not all the serious side effects. now i'm back where i belong. ask your doctor about latuda and pay as little as $0 for your first prescription. >> man: what's my safelite story? my truck...is my livelihood. so when my windshield cracked... the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me... with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ in just a few weeks nasa's james webb space telescope will be rocketed into space, eventually traveling 1 million miles frome earth. the new cnn film will provide insight into this truly ground-breaking mission. here's a preview. >> when we started, the city was considered pretty fringey. we didn't know if there were any planets beyond our solar system. we spent a lot of time building up credibility, making a distinction between ourselves and the folks who report seeing little green men in spaceships and being abducted. i mean people would be writing books about the pioneers and it would be what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this sort of questions. it was really hard. >> do you think there is life out there? >> you know, nathaniel, whatever i think about life beyond earth doesn't matter a bit. for millenia we asked the priests, the philosophers, whoever we thought was wise what we should believe. we can now change that verb into the verb to explore. anything else is religion, and we're not doing religion here, we're doing science. >> let's discuss with sara seger an astrophysicist at m.i.t. thanks for joining us. i know your area of expertise is planets outside of our solar system. how will this telescope impact your work? >> well, for the first time ever we can study small planet atmospheres, planets that may be able to host life, and that's a huge step forward. >> how likely is it that this telescope will potentially find life in some other form potentially on another planet? >> well, first we're not looking for the little green humanoids. we're looking for signs of life by way of gases. gases in an atmosphere that don't belong that might be made by bacteria-type life or something like that. it's going to be a really tough job for webb, but the point is it's the first time we have the capability to do this job. >> what can exploring other planets teach us about our own planet? >> well, for now the other planets we can explore, they're incredibly different from earth. so for the time being it just kind of reinforces how special our earth is and we need to take care of it. >> tell our viewers why you are so driven to conduct this search. what will it mean for you personally, and for humanity at large if we do find life someplace else in space? >> well, it means so many things to different people. personally i'm just driven to explore. you know, for hundreds of years, for millenia, we've looked at the night sky and always wondered what is out there, who is out there? and for the first chance we might be able to at least take the first steps to finding an answer to that. >> sara, give us some context about this extraordinary telescope that's about to be launched into space. how does it compare to previous iterations? >> well, we used to call the webb telescope the next hubble. so think about hubble and the exceptional images and the big discoveries. well, the james webb space tell cop -- telescope is bigger than hubble. the webb operates in the infrared. instead of at wavelengths where our eyes can see, it's like heat energy. the webb is going to travel a million miles away from earth to a special earth/sun balance point where it's cold and dark and great for astronomy. >> sara seager, thanks for joining us. to our viewers, be sure to tune in. the all-new cnn film "the hunt for planet b" premieres saturday, 9:00 p.m. eastern, only on cnn. thanks for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. outfront next, breaking news. the house set to vote on whether to advance biden's massive $1.9 trillion spending bill. the vote coming after a key budget analysis found the bill would add billions of dollars to the deficit, hundreds of billions. does speaker pelosi have the votes? plus former president trump throwing his support behind congressman paul go sar. so what does this say about the state of the republican party? and a tennis star missing for nearly