26th. and i am brianna keilar with kaitlan collins in for john berman. >> i did a little bit of shopping online yesterday. i'm not doing any right now during the show. don't worry. >> well, i did as well. so we're beginning with breaking news right now. officials in south africa are preparing to brief the world health organization about a new and alarming coronavirus variant that thief they are discovered. there's a lot of anxiety over this one because it spreads very quickly, and it is showing an ability to evade immunity. cases in south africa have been exploding the last week. it is currently known as b.1.1.529. it is being seen in israel and hong kong. the eu is confirming that it plans to halt all travel from south africa. >> cnn's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joining us with more on our top story. how worried, this particular one, how worried are you about it? >> you know, i think this is definitely one that you want to track and that you want to keep an eye on. we want to think about the context here, brianna, which is there are mutations all the time. most of them never make it to the world stage. some like delta are particularly clever and they do make it to the world stage. we don't know which one this will be. but let's take a look at some of the basics of this new variant that south african researchers are talking about to the w.h.o. the name a b.1.1.529. it does not have a greek letter yet. we don't know what that will be if they give it one. what they have seen is there are more than 30 mutations in the spike protein. that's important because the spike protein is how this virus works. it's how it infects us. the vaccines are built to spike the protein. if there are too many mutations in the wrong place, it could be a problem for natural immunity. uk, germany and japan have restricted travel from south africa. if you remember back to january, there was another variant spotted in south africa that did real damage there but never got onto the world stage. with he don't know if this is going to be like that variant spotted in south africa or, god forbid, would it become like delta. that's what the world health organization is going to be discussing today. we will wait to hear what they have to say. brianna. . >> that's the question, elizabeth. does this escape in some big way. and you also need to look at their vaccination rates in south africa. it's not great. >> it's not great. we would rather not be hearing this news, let's put it that way. just because we're hearing this news, it doesn't mean this is another delta. when delta started showing itself last spring, we were like, oh, let's take a look. and then it was like, my goodness, this is really bad. we don't know that it's going to become that. all we know is when you see more than 30 mutations on the spike protein, you definitely want to keep watching it. . >> all right. we certainly will. elizabeth, thank you for that. fears about the variant are hitting markets very hard. the dow futures tumbling this morning. our chief business correspondent christine romans is joining us now. christine, of course, uncertainty is basically kryptonite for the markets. . >> exactly. there's so many things we don't know. we don't know how transmissible, if it undermines vaccines. we just don't know a lot. and that is really affecting markets. the s&p up 25% so far this year. you have investors taking money off the table and rushing into the safety of some of these safe havens like bonds. the stock market is selling off big. when you look at some of the categories, cruise lines, for example are down very big here. any kind of travel-related stock. and the worry here is that you would have some sort of new round of big restrictions around the world and lockdowns, and that would be damaging to the global economic recovery, wouldn't it? a lot of questions here. european stocks opened sharply lower. tokyo had the worst day in months, frankly. u.s. stock index futures have been down as much as 5%. that is a big one-day move. we are seeing oil prices tumble 6% here. there is this idea that the u.s. economy, global economy, if it slows down a little bit, if the recovery waivers because of this new variant, it could slow demand for oil. watching oil prices today as well. it looks like an ugly morning for the stock market. the markets close early today for the holiday. so there could be a little bit of overreaction, frankly, because you don't have everybody sort of full up and running because we were closed yesterday, too. markets tend to overreact, don't they? this is the first look markets are getting on it of south africa. >> we will wait to see what the health experts have to say before jumping to any conclusions. dr. fauci will join us live to discuss the new variant. we are following another major story developing this morning. ukraine's president is saying russia is plotting a coup against him. joining us now, cnn political analyst "washington post" columnist and the author of "chaos or heaven, trump, xi and the battle for the 2021 century, josh rogin with us. this is something they are preceding with. >> as if it wasn't bad enough that vladimir putin staged 100,000 troops on his side of the border, now the president of ukraine said he is plotting an internal coup as well. of course that makes total sense because putin never just interferes in just one way. their sovereignty and freedom has been both external and internal. >> it involves the country's richest man, the oligarch oknitov. nothing was ever proven to his connections. it's let's just call it a weird coincidence in 2016 he was involved with manafort's efforts to give polling data to ukraine and russia. now he seems his name has come up again. we are still waiting pore more details. ukraine is facing a number of threats internal and external and they all point back to one direction, and that's moscow. . >> jthey said they believed it was going to happen as soon as next week. do we know any more about the recordings? >> well, zelensky gave a press conference. he didn't give us much detail. i'm sure there will be more written about this in the coming days. one would think if the plot were scheduled for next week announcing it would force the plotters to reschedule. it seems like it might not happen this week. the threat remains. no matter what the details are, you know, when part of what zelensky has been doing, in addition to resisting russian aggression, is trying to clean up the oligarchs in the system and they are naturally fighting back. they have a lot of problems, energy, politics, the russian threat. they are calling on european and american support. they want not just military aid but economic and energy aid as well. while the biden administration has shown a lot of support publicly to zelensky, they haven't produced a lot of actual material assistance. members of congress frankly in both parties are calling for it now. . >> what's in place to stop putin. it's a big question there. i do want to turn to china and taiwan, josh. you had another group of lawmakers, five this time, defying china, visiting the democratic island of taiwan, even though they were specifically asked not to. i wonder what kind of impact this has considering we just saw the conversation with xi and biden. you reported possibly on a diplomatic boy cot of the upcoming games in china. what does this mean? >> right. well, this is the third delegation of u.s. lawmakers to visit the island of taiwan in the last few months. this is not particularly controversial in and of itself. u.s. congressmen and women are allowed to visit taiwan. what's new is as we get to a more and more tense situation between both the united states and china and between china and taiwan, these visits are now raising the stakes and raising the tensions even more. not to say they shouldn't do them, of course. we have good economic ties with taiwan. we have diplomatic, although unofficial ties with taiwan. it's the place where all of the high-end semi conductors that are part of our supply chains are made. it is an important country even though we don't recognize it as such. visits in my opinion are positive and constructive. but we can't ignore the fact that the situation across the taiwan strait is becoming increasingly tense and dangerous. it's not about the olympics. it's what happens the day after the olympics. this is the best behavior we are going to see from beijing, and it's not that good. there are disappearing tennis stores, cracking down on hong kong and committing a genocide. that's when they care about what we think. then when the cameras turn away, that's when the real danger to taiwan begins. >> that's something we will be watching closely with you as well, josh. thank you for joining us this morning. . >> happy thanksgiving. . >> happy thanksgiving. a republican congresswoman is straight-up implying one of her colleagues could be a suicide bombers in comments that seem beyond the pale. >> i was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers. he and i are leaving the capitol, going back to my office, get in the elevator and i see a capitol police officer running hurriedly to the elevator. i see threat all over his face. i looked to my left. there she is. ilhan omar. and i said, well, she doesn't have a backpack. we should be fine. >> oh! >> so we only had one floor to go. do i say it or not. i looked it over. and i said, oh, look, the jihad squad decided to show up for work today. >> omar ripped her colleague over the anti-muslim remarks and tweeted, fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the capitol. this whole story is made up. sad she thinks bigotry is getting her clout. joining us now is edward mitchell, deputy director of the council on american-islamic relations. i want to get your reaction to seeing the comments from congresswoman bow bbbi effort. >> she is not a comedian at a club. she is a member of congress speaking to her constituents, some of whom are muslim. this is beyond the pale. i will say the more disturbing thing is that the audience applauded and laughed and that republican leaders did not condemn this yet. this sort of bigotry is unacceptable in general. but especially because it's directed at her congressional colleague. she is claiming she said this to ilhan omar, which would be workplace environment in any other environment. it is unacceptable in that i hope leaders of congress on both sides of the aisle say so. >> do you think kevin mccarthy will say anything about this based on how he has handled past republican remarks? . >> sadly, no. if paul gosar can get away with a video, i don't expect leader mccarthy to do the right thing. sadly, anti-muslim bigotry is still acceptable in many parts of our country. and that is unacceptable. the republican party used to be a party that welcomed muslim voters. now that is not the case. we should have a country in which you can disagree about policy without hating a person, without hating a religion. if i can add one thing, the other offensive thing she did was to use the phrase jihad squad. jihad means any struggle taken up for the sake of god. you fast, ramadan, charity, standing up against injustice. she needs to keep our words out of her mouth until she knows what she's talking about. >> if someone made that comment at a private company in an elevator with their colleagues. ilhan omar said this did not happen. you would likely be fired. are you worried about the broader implications, though. you're right. she is not a stand-up comedian. she is a member of congress telling this as a joke and now it is being widely spread. are you worried about the broader implications of a comment like that? . >> actually, it normalizes anti-muslim bigotry. ilhan omar deals with death threats all the time. she is a strong leader. this sort of rhetoric contributes to the threats against her and the exclusion of muslims from our country. american muslims are part and parcel to this country. black slaves helped to build this country. we should not be the part of any disgusting joke by any member. sit a danger to our country and a danger to everyone's right. . >> lawmakers will be back in washington this week. i imagine kevin mccarthy is going to get a lot of questions about the comments. thank you to have for joining us this morning on this. >> thank you. retail stores are on alert this black friday after a rise in the smash and grab robberies by criminal mobs. plus, dr. anthony fauci will join us on this breaking news out of south africa where a heavily mutated variant has emerged. what does it mean in the fight against the virus. singer bryan adams hospitalized after testing positive for covid-19 the second time in a month. is this the same infection? 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(vo) subaru and our retailers believe in giving back. that's why, in difficult times, we provided one hundred and fifty million meals to feeding america. and now through the subaru share the love event, we're helping even more. by the end of this year, subaru will have donated over two hundred and twenty five million dollars to charity. this is what it means to be more than a car company. this is what it means to be subaru. switching wireless carriers is easy with xfinity. just lean on our helpful switch squad to help you save with xfinity mobile. they can help break up with your current carrier for you and transfer your info to your new phone. giving you a fast and easy experience that can save you hundreds a year on your wireless bill. visit your nearest xfinity store and see how the switch squad can help you switch and save. it's the xfinity black friday sales event. learn how to save up to $1000 on select phones by visitng your local xfinity store today. black friday may never be the same. this is traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year but one year ago they had to be closed because of the pandemic. fast forward, though, to 2021. many stores have remained closed for the holiday, choosing to reopen later this morning. alison kosik is live in herald square in new york. allison, what are we expecting today? >> reporter: good morning, brianna. you know, it's feeling pretty festive at the macy's here in herald square. the windows are all 'em blazoned in lights and holiday themes. an hour ago macy's opened to a crowd of dozens waiting to get in. despite the fact that prices are rising at the fastest pace in 30 years, consumers are shopping like crazy. the national retail federation expects that consumers are going to go ahead and break records this holiday season, spending anywhere between 843 to $859 billion by the end of the shopping season. today is the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. 158 million people expected to shop. just today, 108 million expected to shop on this black friday. 60% of those expected to actually go inside stores and shop which is a divergence from what it used to be. meaning even prepandemic, people shopping online. that used to be the way to go. not this year. this year we are seeing a lot of consumers wanting to go into the stores because they want to get their hands on their items and bring them home and not leave it up to fate because of all the supply chain disruptions going on. retailers battling with these supply chain hiccups making it difficult for retailers to keep inventories higher. consumers have heeded the warnings. they started shopping as early as september this year. september and october jumping because consumers realizing that inventories may be low. the down side to this high demand and low inventory situation means the discounts may be fewer and not as big as in years past. brianna. . >> yeah. i'll admit, allison, i'm part of the 40%. i will be putting mill faith in the postal service or fedex or u.p.s. or whoever is going to deliver the packages to me that i buy online. alison kosik, thank you so much. >> you got it. we will take a look at the forecast and what you can expect through the weekend as you are doing shopping, heading back home. jennifer, we made it through thanksgiving. everything looked pretty good yesterday. but what are you seeing out there today? >> you're right, kaitlyn. we did have a quiet week leading up to thanksgiving. thanksgiving day pretty quiet. now things start to ramp up. we have a series of systems, one today and one on sunday, that could impact not only the shoppers out and about but travelers as well. i don't think we will see too many delays today because of the rain. we will have blustery winds. winter weather storm warnings for interior sections of new england. so the forecast radar shows one system pushing out for today. and then we have a break on saturday. then another system gets its act together across the midwest. this is going to be a fast-moving system that could impact travelers returning home, or shoppers, on sunday. this could slow you down as well. the forecast accumulation as far as rain, not that much. you can see interior sections we could see quite a bit of know. any snow. two to four inches. >> you are telling me to get my shopping done before sunday. >> exactly. >> thank you so much. tracking new developments on a coronavirus variant that was first detected in south africa. how concerning is it and how concerned should you be? we'll ask dr. anthony fauci next. plus, it is one of america's most notorious unsolved mysteries. a new development in the search for jimmy hoffa's body. claim . 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[echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ ♪ (vo) reflect on the past, celebrate the future. season's greetings from audi. ♪ this holiday, let them shine like never before. ♪ ♪ ♪ this is how we shine. ♪ find the perfect gift at zales. the diamond store. to run a growing business, is to be on a journey. and along the ride, you'll have many questions. challenges. and a few surprises. ♪ but wherever you are on your journey. your dell technologies advisor is here for you - with the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. a new variant of coronavirus has been discovered in south africa. this is raising concerns. scientists there are warning it could show immune invasion and transmissibility. joining me is dr. anthony fauci. sir, thank you so much for being with us. this is obviously a very significant day as we try to look at what the risk factors are with this variant. what can you tell us about this? >> well, certainly there is a new variant that is now in south africa that has some mutations that are raising some concern, particularly with regard to possibly transmissibility increase and possible evasion of immune response. we don't know that for sure right now. this is something that's in motion. we just arranged a discussion between our scientists and the south african scientists later this morning. you are hearing a lot of things back and forth. we want to find out scientist to scientist exactly what is going on. it is something that emerged in south africa and seems to be spreading at a reasonably rapid rate in the sense of when they test positivity, they are seeing it is a bit more widespread in south africa than was originally felt. it is a fluid motion. it is something in realtime we are learning more and more about. . >> is it possible it's already in the u.s.? >> you know, of course anything is possible. we don't know that. there is no indication it is. it went to botswana. people traveled and found out they were infected and had gone to hong kong. there's a lot of travel. that's the reason why we are getting together then to try to get the precise mow electrical hrar makeup of it so you could test for it. that is something to put the appropriate materials together to do that. we are in very active communication with our south african colleague scientists. >> so explain to us the questions and the concerns about how this might evade immunity. there are so many mutations on the spike protein, which is what a vaccine, the vaccines we have are designed to hit. the question is now going to be, right, is that spike protein still permeable when it comes to the vaccine. . >> that's what we're going to be finding out. because when you look at a mutation, it can give you a hint or a prediction that it might evade the immune response. what you need to do is get that particular sequence of the virus, put it in the lab where you can test the antibodies. you can have a prediction that it might evade or you can prove it. we are getting the material together with our south african colleagues to get a situation where you could actually directly test it. right now you are talking about sort of hike a red flag that this might be an issue, but we don't know. once you test it, you'll know for sure whether or not it does or does not evade the antibodies that we make, for example, against the virus through a vaccine or following convalescent after you get infected, do those antibodies protect you against this new virus. the answer is we don't know right now, but we're going to find out for sure. >> in the meantime, the uk has banned air travel from the south african countries. do you think the u.s. should do that? . >> obviously as soon as we find out more information we will do it as quickly as we can. you dent want to say you are going to do it until you have scientific reason to do it. >> so if the u.s. starts to see -- yes, i know we are awaiting more information. we need to understand how this works. if the u.s. starts to see these cases of this particular strain, what immediate measures have to be taken? there is always what the uk has done, block travel from south africa and related countries. you're prepared to do everything you need to do to protect the american public. you want to make sure there's a basis for doing that, and that's what we're doing right now. >> i know you are watching states that are already dealing with a surge in hospitalizations like michigan, which we are tracking. what does that tell us about what the next couple months are going to look like? >> again, i keep saying it over and over, the next couple of months will be up to us. we have an effective tool. we have 60 million people adults eligible for vaccination not vaccinated. we've got to get them vaccinated. there's no reason whatsoever not to vaccinate them. we want the boosters, and this is really, really clear, the boosters in damocles the level of protection traumatically, particularly in individuals with waning protection. we do know it's a fact that after months, the elderly, across the board in the age group, you have a diminution over several months, which is the reason why we're recommending that everyone 18 years and older who has received the vaccine get the booster. you get a booster now, you can get into the winther have a higher degree of protection. that's why we are pushing so hard for people to get vaccinated in the first place. and b, if you have been vaccinated and you're six months or morphology mrna, no get your booster. >> i got boosted two days ago. i was so relieved to do it and can't way to know until i have the full effect here in a couple of weeks. i want to ask you about bryan adams and his covid diagnosis. he announced that he has tested positive for covid in the second time in a month and that he is in the hospital. he says he is fully vaccinated. what do you make of this twice in two months? is this the same infection? what do you think? >> you know, it would really be foolish for me to try and speculate. i don't know anything about his case. it could be he continued to have virus in him and tested positive and never really got rid of it in his system. i know nothing about his medical condition, so i'm reluctant to make any comment about it. >> related, are you aware of any situation where someone has tested positive, two different strains in the course of a month, or you have not heard of anything like that, right? >> generally, you clear the virus after a few days who because of a compromise in their immune system, they continue to have a virus low level in their body. sometimes that is interpreted as reinfection when it is not reinfection, it is a persistence of infection. again, as a physician, i don't want to comment on somebody else's medical condition because i do not know what's going on with that person. . >> yes. completely understand that. i did want to talk to you about something that i asked your former colleague under president trump, brett giroir. i asked about the questionable august 2020 testing virus saying asymptomatic people didn't necessarily need to be tested. here's what he said. . >> after two weeks of discussion, we decided that that was the appropriate guidance. and dr. fauci did sign off on it. dr. redfield published it in the cdc. and that was the guidance. it was highly misinterpreted by the public and the media. and to be honest, dr. birx thought it would be that way and it was revised in two weeks. but everything was done in a scientific way. >> is his description accurate and complete? >> you know, this is tan out of context. i don't know whatted entire conversation is with him. i don't really want to comment on it. you have taken a little clip. he shows it. i don't know what the whole context of the conversation was. so i don't want to get into that. >> i did the interview. what is your question about the context? >> so what is the situation? what is the question you're asking him? that's what i would like to know. >> okay. >> i'll make it clear. i'm not trying to trip you up here. deborah birx testified before the house committee that's investigating the covid response. and she, along with a number of other officials, were basically saying that the trump administration was meddling when it came to scientific guidance. and then i asked him about that august 2020 guidance that came out and it said asymptomatic people didn't necessarily been tested if they had been exposed to covid. as you will recall when that came out, doctors were looking at that saying what's going on here? it ended up being revised. when i talked to him about this, he said they were trying to test. that was a priority. not that they were they are reducing testing with the guidance. there was a discussion about it. you were on board. deborah birx was had some concerns there. he signed off on it. and in that interview he was saying president trump did not want to reduce testing, even though we know publicly he he said he did. my question is, is what he is saying complete? >> right. obviously people hearing have no idea what we're talking about. . >> there's a lot of people here who know what we are talking about. . >> believe deborah birx. if the fact is we wanted to test people asymptomatic as opposed to just symptomatic people, deborah birx and i have always said we want to test people even though they are asymptomatic. >> so what happened? >> first, they began testing people who were only symptomatic. if you have more widespread testing, you obviously have more people that you've identified are positive. if you don't test asymptomatic people, it looks like the level of infection is much lower. >> has brett giroir been honest in your opinion about how he is with the testing under the administration? >> i don't want to give comments who b who has been honest and who has been dishonest. i can only speak to myself. i have been extremely truthful in everything i have said throughout the entire pandemic, now almost two years. i'm not going to comment on what other people say. sorry. >> let me ask you about something he did say about you. he said ultimately deborah birx signed off on this, ultimately you signed off on this. and i wonder if there is more to that description? . >> well, i don't know what he's talking about. as you know, the story goes i was actually in the hospital when that was signed off on. so i don't know what he's talking about. i was having my polyp for my vocal chord removed at that time. i wasn't there when they gave the sign-rauf. i'm not sure what he's talking about. . >> thanks so much for being with us. it's a critical day as we are watching south africa trying to figure out what's going on. we appreciate you being with us. . >> thank you. from charlottesville to kenosha, defendants in four high-profile put on the stand. a stunning exoneration of a man who was falsely accused of rape by a best-selling author. my retirement plan with voya keeps me moving forward. they guide me with achievable steps that give me confidence. this is my granddaughter...she's cute like her grandpa. voya doesn't just help me get to retirement... ...they're with me all the way through it. voya. be confident to and through retirement. as a dj, i know all about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ ♪ ♪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. xfinity rewards are our way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night specials, xfinity mobile benefits, and the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. hey, it's me. plus, get holiday gifts for everyone on your list with great deals on fan favorites from today. join over a million members by signing up for free on the xfinity app. our thanks. your rewards. for the past several weeks, several high-profile times gripped the nation with one striking similarity. defendants willing to take the stand, including kyle rittenhouse who was found not guilty on all charges. and in georgia, travis mcmichael, who was found guilty on all counts for the murder of ahmaud arbery. in charlottesville, several white nationalists took the stand as well and were found liable for millions in damages for the deadly unite the right rally. and in the theranos trial. the former head prosecutor and host of law and crime network. bob, thank you so much for being with me this morning. i want to get your take on whether or not this is something you are used to seeing. how rare is it to see the defendant take the stand even though of course all the cases we just talked about have critical differences. >> they do have critical differences. as a former prosecutor, when i was waiting for a defendant to get on the stand, i loved it. i was like a lion in a cage waiting to cross-can examine the witness. i don't think it's a trend. it depends on the facts of the case and the client. in some cases there was a reason to do it. in my mind, especially with holmes, i think there may be a little bit of ego in it where they want to get their story out. nevertheless, they hurt themselves on the stand. when you look at the rittenhouse case and the arbery case, there's a really important reasons why the defendants took the stand. and in arbery, they had to take the stand for an affirmative defense. he had to explain why he felt it was reasonable to use force. in right hen house it was a tactical mistake but it worked out well for him. in analysis of lawyers, we tell the client whether they should take the stand or not take the stand. ultimately, it's up to them. stphreut was effective for kyle rittenhouse in the end obviously after that testimony talking approximate what he personally went through during that period. but then obviously with the mcmichaels. you saw travis mcmichael take the stand. of course we saw how that verdict was read on wednesday. guilty, guilty, guilty for all three of the men. and travis mcmichael was the only one to take it. how do you know if it will be an effective tactic, if you're the defense attorney? >> in rittenhouse i would imagine his lawyer told him that i don't think you should take the stand. because four witnesses for the state, including one of the victims, grosskreutz, testified very favorably to the self-defense claim. there was no need for him to get on the stand. but after the interviews with the lawyer post verdict of not guilty, he indicated right especially house always wanted to get on the stand and tell the story. so that was a little dangerous there. for travis mcmichaels, he had to get on the stand. that so he needed to contextualize what was happening during that incident to the jury, and so he must take the stand. ultimately, obviously the jury didn't buy that. but the evidence against mcmichael was very, very strong and the evidence respectfully, there is a lot of controversy about this, with rittenhouse, when i was doing my show, i was just listening it the state's witnesses, a former homicide prosecutor, this was the prosecution's witnesses and i was asking my producer, is this a defense witness or is it a prosecutor's witness because so many of those witnesses dispelled the narrative that rittenhouse was the aggressor, that rittenhouse brought the weapon to kenosha, which is not accurate and that rittenhouse was the one going after people as opposed to what we saw on the video. rittenhouse took a risk because there was evidence to show that already, with the witnesses and the video. with mcmichael, he had to take the stand because his case was going down in flames. >> bob bianchi, thank you for joining us this morning and sharing those insights. >> thank you. after 16 years in prison, and decades of fighting, a man falsely accused of rape is having his case thrown out. a new york judge made the decision nearly 40 years after anthony broadwater was falsely accused of rape by the lovely bones author alice seebold. the local district attorney joined the motion to evict the conviction. joining us now to discuss is cnn legal analyst, joey jackson. joey what did you think of this and how long this took? >> this is so heart breaking in so many ways, when someone is falsely accused and they continue to assert their innocence and you have a situation where they're in jail for just way longer than they should be and then you have statutes which are ill designed to compensate them. so it is first a human emotion, forgetting one minute as to the legal issues of it. but just the human emotion, my goodness, i'm sure so many people share that emotion. but we just have to do better and i think putting someone in jail, based upon witness identification, which is inherently flawed for so many reasons, you identifications flawed because of the nature of a crime, people are in shock, people are just, you know, really not in a position, when you're in such a horrified state, et cetera, to make the identifications, and then you had faulty forensic analysis with respect to a hair sample which was demonstrated to be 90% ineffective. on so many levels we have to be better as a system and shouldn't have taken that long, and it did, and that's a shame. >> i think that factor about the hair sample is really complex and also, you know, it makes people question this. that is something that was -- seemed so dependable at the time and now look back at how that has worked and, you know, obviously this is also really changed broadwater's life. he talks about how in the time after this, how when he met his wife, how it affected their relationship from the beginning, af f affecting their decision whether or not to have children. he was registered as a sex offender. now this happens and we see the aftermath, but look at how many decades of his life it completely altered and in a way you cannot get back. >> yeah, that's so true. so well said. and i think, you know, it is part of a broader issue. we can speak about him, there is so many, if you look at this from really an aerial view of people who are incarcerated and what is the basis for it. and i think there are several, you know. if you look at the system, we know the disproportional amount of people of color who are ultimately arrested and subsequently convicted. we know the pressure on law enforcement to bring matters to district attorneys offices. it is a valid pressure and that works -- they're working with -- in doing the best they can with witnesses, but those witnesses are then subsequently potentially coached or may not be 100% clear. and then you have prosecutors who are prosecuting cases, you know, it is a major problem and then the final analysis, kaitlan, and brianna, you have a system that is so stubborn, they want stability, finality and they're so reluctant in the face of new evidence to re-examine, to reassess and determine is this the right call here? and in so many of these cases you hear about people for years and witnesses coming forward and saying i made a mistake and yet still it is really an entrenched system which does nothing about it or if they do, it is far too little and far too late. >> yeah, accusers too may have hung their hats on some of this evidence as well that is now questionable. they too may have thought and been convinced their accusations were completely founded because of that. joey, i thank you very much for being with us. >> of course. thank you, both. coming up next, is kevin mccarthy's spot as house speaker, if republicans retake the house, in jeopardy? what marjorie taylor greene is demanding in exchange for her vote. and just in, we have a major story developing, ukraine's president is now alleging that russia is plotting a coup against him as the u.s. warns of russian invasion of the country is possible. the tempur-pedic breeze° makes sleep...feel cool. because the tempur-breeze° transfers heat away from your body... ...so you feel cool, night after night. save up to $500 on select adjustable mattress sets during the tempur-pedic black friday event. c'mon caleb, you got this! and if you don't, there are other options! umpire: ball! good eye! good eye! eyes are good for lots of things. like reading! be the best, caleb! statistically impossible, caleb. umpire: strike three, you're out! you'll get 'em next time! or you won't, probably won't. and it won't impact your future whatsoever! talk to us about college planning today. feel comfortable about tomorrow. massmutual. 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