borla to ask for expanded doses of the booster vaccine for 16 and 17-year-olds. quoting from him, it is our hope to provide strong protection for as many people as possible, particularly in light of the new variants, he said. when he posted that, there were two new reported cases, one in minnesota, the other in colorado. late today new york added five new cases. today also saw president biden visit the national institutes of health just outside washington and unveil new covid fighting policies. they include tighter testing requirements for travelers coming into the u.s. and extending the current mask mandate for domestic planes, trains, and buses. he touched on that but made boosters the heart of his message, using the b word more than two dozen times. >> the cdc, the food and drug administration, the fda, and our top public officials recommend all adults, all adults get a booster shot when it's time. but here's the deal. more than about 100 million are eligible for booster, but haven't gotten the booster shot yet. folks, if you're over the age of 18, and you got vaccinated before june 2, six months has gone by. go get your booster now. go get it now. >> there is a big hitch in those plans because as successful as the president hopes to be in insuring everyone can get a vaccine or booster, it's still demand, not supply that is the problem. something as fact-based as preventing a deadly illness still breaks down along party lines. new polling from the kaiser family foundation shows just 36% of republicans saying they will get a booster, compared to 77% of democrats. that's more than a 2-1 gap. that's not simply driven by politics, it's reinforced on social media. so joining us now with his exclusive new reporting on how facebook is profiting from pumping anti-vaccine cnn's donie o'sullivan. what have you learned? >> caused outrage a few nights ago when she compared dr. anthony fauci to a nazi doctor, the angel of death. but this is not happening in a vacuum. in fact, it's all over people's facebook feeds. i want to show skbrou some of the ads we found on facebook that the platform has been allowing to run and profit from over just the past few months. one ad here says "i'm originally from america, but i currently reside in 1941 germany." another shows a picture of a vaccine and says "slowly and quietly," but it's the holocaust playing into the ridiculous idea that the vaccine is part of a mass slaughter. and political violence, make hanging traitors great again. facebook likes to frame a lot of these issues in the free speech. we don't want to trample on speech too much. but these are actual ads that they are accepting, that they are running and that they are taking money for to target to their users. >> are these still up? what is facebook saying about these? >> so facebook will always out the and promote that they have all these moderator, all this artificial intelligence that can catch these adds which are clear violations of their rules. but they didn't catch them until cnn brought them to their attention. the ad about comparing the u.s. crackdown and restrictions on covid to the nazi regime and calling the vaccines a holocaust tool, those two ads got taken down facebook said after cnn brought it to their attention. but that ad, i don't know if we can show it again, "make hanging traitors great again," that's still up on the platform. that's seemingly not against facebook's rules, even though this is just months after we saw gallows outside the capitol and people chanting "hang mike pence." >> some of these were run on instagram, which is on the other hand by facebook. the ceo i think of instagram is going to be testifying. do we know what to expect from him? >> we're probably going to hearing? along the lines of we know we have some issues. we have some work to do, but we're still doing great and we're watching 99.999% of everything. this is clearly not the case. we poked around little. we found these ads very, very easily. if we're easy to find them, a trillion company facebook with that resources they should be able to find them. >> this is not just posting the picture of free speech. this is an ad that facebook is actually profiting from. >> this is an ad. one ad they had run they only spent $400 or $500 and were able to reach up to half a million people. and we saw some states targeted with some specific ads, florida, texas, a lot of states where there are the major covid issues or we saw v seen the spikes throughout the year. >> appreciate it. perspective now from former facebook executive frances haugen in her first interview since testifying before the house committee. frances, this reporting from donie o'sullivan shows that facebook is not only allowing posts that refer to the holocaust, but they making money from it. why is this happening? is that part of the business model? >> facebook's business model is conditioned on fixing problems after they find them. facebook has known since 2018, mark has publicbly made comments on it, mark zuckerberg, saying prioritizing content or ads based on their ability to provoke a reaction from you, which is usually the most extreme and polarizing content. it's dangerous because people are drawn to engage with extreme content. but mark said at the time, it's okay. ai will save us. the only problem is the ai misses lots and lots of problems. in the case of hate speech, only 3% to 5% of hate speech is caught. i won't be surprised if they had policies against anti-vaccine content like this that they let a similar amount of that content through. >> it's been almost two months since you spoke out about facebook's misinformation problems. and when you see ads like this that say i'm originally from america but i currently ready in 1941 germany on the platform this week, are you surprised that this is still still prevalent? >> i'm not surprised at all. one of the things that i think most people don't understand is that while i've spent most of my time talking about how engagement-based ranking amplifies the most extreme and polarizing content in our news feeds, the same happens with ads. ads that are provocative, that elicit extreme emotions from us are cheaper to run than more centrist or compassionate ads. think about it. which one provokes you to do an angry comment? one of the ads like you described or an ad saying i support our nurses? facebook knows there are these problems in their systems. they know that psychologists have known for decades it's easier to provoke people to anger. and the algorithms end up giving the most rage for the least amount of dollars for extreme content like these. >> you testified yesterday, you said they thought they could reduce misinformation by 25% overnight with changes to its algorithm. you think it's that easy? >> oh, yeah. there are multiple components to facebook's raging systems where people have known for years that even sick single terms, single factors were increasing misinformation dramatically. facebook has a whole series of these interventions that don't involve censorship. they don't involve looking at good ideas and bad ideas. they just involve not running the system so hot. facebook knows when they let the system run hot, run fast, they make more money. and if facebook had to go in there and stand accountable, it's likely they would choose safer settings and they would be able to go with these little tiny pieces of profit. >> 0.1% here, but we would have significantly less misinformation, not just in english, but in all the other languages in the world, the vast majority of which get no safety systems from facebook. >> in october facebook came out against you, as you obviously know. they released a statement that said in part that you worked for the company for less than two years, had no direct report, never attended a decision point meeting with c level executives. were you at all surprised that they chose to try to attack you like that, dismiss you as a low level employee? >> the thing that facebook didn't disclose is what my relative seniority was in the company. by time i left i was more senior than 60 if not 70% of people, because in tech turnover is really fast. the second thing is i worked at four social media companies, all of which had algorithmic roles. i'm one of the foremost experts in the industry with understanding the problems with ai systems in a social media context. it's true. i've never been in a c suite meeting. but i also brought out an extensive cache of documents that demonstrates that facebook has consistently lied about the safety options that exist, about the fact that it's not doing everything it can to fight these problems, and that they're not willing to sacrifice slivers of profit for our safety. >> you've said the company would be strong fer zuckerberg stepped down as ceo. if, a, do you think that's at all likely? and if you were the ceo of facebook, what is the first change you would make? on day one, what would your agenda be? >> you know, when i originally came forward, i really don't like personalizing conflicts. i think the promise of facebook are about incentives and about organizational incentives. but when mark zuckerberg came out and said hey, i know we called out all these things that are endangering people's lives about the underinvolvement on the platform, we should find 10,000 new engineers to build video games. when that happened, like that was a real -- it made me think maybe more needs to be done. maybe someone who is willing to accept responsibility for the power that facebook has should be in control. if i had the ability to -- if i can wave a magic wand and direct the company, i think the first thing i would do is have a radically more transparent stance with the academic community, the civil society community, the government, because facebook has problems that need tens of thousands more people working on them. and right nows theybook cannot solve those problems because every team in the company is understaffed. and it will only continue to get worse. because every time there is a scandal, it's harder for facebook to hire. the only way facebook can rebuild trust with the community and with the world is through things like transparence circumstances and being willing to open the book and say this is what we're actually doing to solve these problems. we're not going to wave our hands and say we're working on it anymore. >> why, with all their money, why are they understaffed? >> i think there is a process of, you know, every time a scandal happens, it gets harder to hire, right. and that's one of the things about feedback cycles. you know, part of what i said originally in my testimony is facebook needs a moment to declare moral bankruptcy. the way we move forward is with truth and reconciliation. and because facebook is unwilling to admit the problems it has and is unwilling to say okay, we need a reset, like i made miss stay, i accept responsibility, but we need to move forward. because they're not willing to do that, it's hard for people to hold them -- have good faith in them. it makes it harder to higher, i don't know much about the metaverse. i'm not smart enough to understand what the future of tech is, but if facebook is morally bankrupt, does it concern you the idea of them going all in on creating a new universe? >> so, anderson. >> yeah? >> and to correct you, it's not that i said they are morally bankrupt. i said they need to declare moral bankruptcy. bankruptcy is a process where people get financial freedom. they say i messed up. i accept the consequences. it's going to be painful for a couple of years. but society says we value people's lives more than we value money. >> okay. >> i'm saying that facebook right now is stuck. they're stuck in a feedback loop, and they need to start solving problems together with the community and not alone, because they're having trouble moving forward alone. but with regard to the metaverse, i don't think facebook has demonstrated that they are designing safety first. you know, i want you to imagine for a second, let's say you're 19 and you come home from school, and you put on your headset, and suddenly you're more handsome than you were before. your apartment is nicer. your clothes are nicer. your hair is nicer. you spend all evening in this fantasy world, then you go to bed, you go brush your teeth, and you look in the mirror, and now your hair is worse, your body is worse, your apartment is worse. what does that do to you as a person, right? i worry that the kinds of problems that the vision of the metaverse that mark is promoting is going to do to people. and i can't imagine that facebook is building any plans for that right now. and i hate the idea that we might get five years or ten years down the line and spend all ten years saying we're seeing these problems with addiction. you're ruining people's lives before facebook stops gaslighting us that they exist. we need more transparency, and we need it up-front. >> frances haugen, i really appreciate your time. thank you. >> my pleasure. have a good day. >> after reportedly writing in his book that the former president tested positive for covid three days before his first debate with joe biden, former chief of staff mark meadows is calling it fake news. our gloria borger is explaining why he might be doing that. also, new information about the 15-year-old sophomore accused of killing four sophomores and injuring seven others. why his parents were at the high school just hours before the shooting. that's decision tech. only from fidelity. like many people with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease, i was there. be right back. but my symptoms were keeping me from where i needed to be. so i talked to my doctor and learned humira is the #1 prescribed biologic for people with uc or crohn's disease. and humira helps people achieve remission that can last, so you can experience few or no symptoms. 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. we're carvana, the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. [♪] cooking and eating at home more often means food odors get trapped in your home's fabrics and released back into the air so you smell last night's dinner the next morning. for an easy way to keep your whole home smelling fresh try febreze fabric refresher. febreze's water-based formula deeply penetrates fabrics to eliminate trapped food odors as it dries. spray febreze fabric refresher when you clean up after meals to ensure your entire home smells fresh and clean. try febreze fabric refresher. brand power. helping you buy better. former white house chief of staff mark meadows is trying to walk back explosive claims he played in his new book about the former president's positive covid test. before we get to his denial, let's take a look at the timeline because it's important. as was first reported in the guardian, meadows reveals in his soon to be released memoir, the former president first tested positive for covid september 26. that was three days before his first debate with then vice president joe biden. meadows and the former president are now pointing out that he tested negative after testing positive. the same day, he hosted a white house event both inside and outside for them supreme court nominee amy coney barrett, at least 12 attendees later tested positive there. the next day, september 27th, he hosted an indoor white house reception for gold star families. followed by a maskless news conference in the white house briefing room. on september 29th, which was debate day, meadows reports the former president was moving slower than usual but, quote, nothing was going to stop him from going out there. on october 1st, the former president finally acknowledges he had coronavirus, and october 2nd, he was hospitalized. now, yesterday, the former president called the reporting on the claim in meadows' book that he tested positive on september 26th fake news and a few hours later, meadows went on newsmax and seemed to agree with his former boss. >> i believe the president says it's fake news. what is the story here? >> well, the president is right. it's fake news. if you actually read the book, the context of it, that story outlined a false positive. literally had a test, had two other tests after that that showed that he didn't have covid during the debate. and yet, the way that the media wants to spin it is certainly to be as negative about donald trump as they possibly can while giving joe biden a pass. >> so that's true, at least according to meadows' account, that is reportedly in the book, that the former president tested negative after testing positive. what meadows didn't say there that is reportedly in the book is that meadows was telling everyone in the former president's immediate circle to treat him as if he was positive. maybe meadows left that part out of the interview he did with newsmax because what our gloria borger is learning about the former president's reaction to the revelation about his positive test. she joins us now along with cnn medical analyst dr. lena wen, author of the book "life lines: a doctor's journey in the fight for public health." the former president is disputing what is reportedly in the book written by meadows, and that's it, meadows himself seems to agree. what more are you learning about the former president's reaction to all this? there so he agrees what he wrote was fake news because we reported what's in the book badly, and of course, that's not true. what i'm learning is that the former president, according to a source who is familiar with the president's thinking, is that the former president is furious about what is in the book. and that he's angry with mark meadows. now, i was told by one source that meadows and the president have not had a close relationship. but other sources are telling other reporters at cnn that it is a relationship that's been fine because don't forget, mark meadows is on the trump train for 2024. but that the president is mad about the way meadows characterized all of this in the book. so what i think we are witnessing on newsmax is mark meadows trying to get back in the president's good graces and saying, yeah, blame it on the press. what i was trying to tell you is all the president had was a false positive and that's it. and move on. >> but gloria, what's interesting about this is the white house then went out of their way, and the former president, too, to avoid ever acknowledging when he got his first positive test for covid. if you think back to that time, this was a question of could he have possibly been positive during the debate. >> sure. >> he would never come forward and say, yes, i tested positive on this date, you know, days before. they didn't want to go there. >> yeah, and meadows is also saying there were three tests. we think there were two. we don't know about any kind of third test. we know that the debate required a negative test 72 hours. >> right, and the debate themselves for some odd reason did not test on that day right before the debate. i find them inexplicable. >> if you'll recall, if you'll recall, we all noticed the president arrived late. there's an honor system. and you know, they obviously told the folks there, you know, he had tested negative, so he went on to the debate stage. it was, you know, that was the situation. but you know, that's not -- in the excerpt of the book that the guardian printed, and again, we haven't seen the book. that's not mentioned. >> dr. wen, just in terms of the timeline of when the former president started showing symptoms and was taken to walter reed, does a positive test on september 26, as the meadows book reportedly says took place, does that make the most sense since he was hospitalized at walter reed on october 2nd? >> yes, because the previous timeline made no sense to those of us who have actually treated covid patients. that's because you don't go from zero to 100 overnight. what we had heard was october 1 is when former president trump first started testing positive. he first started having symptoms. then by the next day, he was so severely ill that he had low oxygen saturation, such severeness of breath that he had to be airlifted and be in the, icu, when at that time the clinical course for the variants that were about at the time, there were about five to eight days between when you first start having your symptoms to when you start having shortness of breath. so one day just made no sense. this is the reason why so many of us were asking at the time, when did he test positive? and when was his last negative test. by the way, there's one question that would help us solve this issue did people really think this was a false negative. when did president trump actually get monoclonal antibodies. because for somebody his age older, who is the president, if he tested positive and his medical team really believed he tested positive, they would have given mihm hymn monoclonal antibodies on september 26th or shortly thereafter. we know he got those antibodies, but we don't know when. i think finding out that question will really help us to understand did his medical team and the president really think he had covid. >> gloria, so the guardian reported in the book he told people in the former president's circle, quote -- sorry, he told people in the former president's, quote, immediate circle, to treat him as if he was positive, end quote. even after the positive test, which obviously doesn't seem to square with what meadows is now saying that oh, no, he got a negative test or got two negative tests so, he was totally fine. if he is telling people treat this guy like he is positive, what does it say about the then first family going maskless at the debate and also with gold star families, for goodness sakes? >> right, it's hard to parse here. i mean, first of all, who is in the president's inner circle? isn't the family in the president's inner circle? and also, what does that mean about contact tracing and -- >> we have seen pictures of the family sitting maskless at the debate, even though the cleveland clinic had asked everyone to wear masks. >> wearing a mask, and dr. wen knows more about this than i do, but shouldn't you be doing contact tracing with people who were in immediate contact with the president of the united states? and i would presume that would mean his immediate family. so how -- how to explain the fact that they would go maskless in a place that is actually asking people to wear masks. if they knew that he had had even a false positive at a certain point, because from the moment he gets a false positive, wouldn't you start saying to people, okay, we have to figure out just who the president was in contact with. >> you would if you were a decent human being or with any sense of shame. all the people sitting there who we just saw on camera, you know, eric trump, donny jr., you know, the whole -- the whole mishegas there, you know, they're shameless. and clearly, you know, were making a very particular point by going maskless. dr. wen, looking back on it now, in light of the claims in meadows' book, should the former president or his family even have been at that debate? shouldn't they have been quarantining? >> absolutely. so to be clear, anyone, i don't care if it's the president, former president, or anybody else, if you have symptoms, and you have a positive test, you should not be going anywhere. you should be in isolation. also, if you're a close contact, to gloria's point, if you're a close contact, and certainly family who live with him, should be close contacts, if you are a close contact of somebody who tested positive, you should be in quarantine if you are unvaccinated, which they were at the time. you should not be going anywhere, and also, you should not be test shopping. you don't get a test and once it's positive and you don't like that, you take more tests until it becomes negative. that's not the way this should work. >> dr. leana when, gloria borger, thank you. up next, new developments in that deadly michigan high school shooting including new information about the teenage suspect's concerning behavior in the days before the massacre. the oakland county prosecutor joins us next. we have to be able to repair the enamel on a daily basis. with pronamel repair toothpaste, we can help actively repair enamel in its weakened state. it's innovative. my go to toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. ♪ ♪ 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. ♪ not only do centrum multigummies taste great. they help support your immune defenses, too. because a healthy life. starts with a healthy immune system. with vitamins c and d, and zinc. getting out there has never tasted so good. try centrum multigummies. ♪ ♪ you are my fire ♪ ♪ the one desire ♪ ♪ you are, you are, ♪ ♪ don't wanna hear you say... ♪ ♪ ♪ i want it that way ♪ it's the season of smiling. and at aspen dental, we make it easy to gift yourself the smile you deserve. new patients, start today with a full exam and x-rays, with no obligation. if you don't have insurance, it's free. plus everyone saves 20% on their treatment plan with flexible payment solutions for every budget. we're here making smiles shine bright so you can start the new year feelin' alright. call 1-800-aspendental or book today at aspendental.com new information tonight about the concerning behavior of the 15-year-old accused of killing four students and injured seven others during an attack at his high school in oakland county, michigan, tuesday. today, the oakland county sheriff said two teachers separately reported their concerns about the sophomore starting the day before the deadly shooting he's accused of. he also revealed that school officials met with him twice, including once with his parents just hours before the killings. after that meeting, he was sent back to class. the suspect's behavior in the days leading up to the shooting may not be the only red flag. oakland county prosecutor karen mcdonald joins us now. ms. mcdonald, i appreciate you being with us. what updates are you able to share with us tonight on where the investigation stands? >> well, we have issued charges against the shooter. four counts of first degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and then a charge of terrorism causing death, which at the time i didn't know, but is quite unique and that came about because we were sitting down and talking about what the charges were going to be, and when you look at the victims in this case, there were four murdered children, there were several other injured, but then there's this whole group of people, these students, who were traumatized. and the entire community. i mean, there's hundreds of students that witnessed this, that heard this, that literally ran for their lives. and they need to have a voice, too. this is a tragic, tragic, horrific crime. but we also need to recognize that those kids are not eating, they're not sleeping. they are in shock, and they're terrified to go back to school. and they're also mourning the loss of their friends. so that's why we charged terrorism. some time tomorrow, though, my office will be announcing, i will be announcing potential whether or not we'll be issuing potential charges against the young person's -- the shooter's parents. >> you mentioned that, you know, your office is trying to determine whether or not the shooter's parents will face charges. do you know yet what those charges might look like if you did? you said you're going to make an announcement on this tomorrow. i assume some of this at the very least would be related to the purchase of the weapon or the storage of the weapon that according to reporting was bought by his father several days before the shooting. >> the purchase of the weapon, the accessibility of the weapon, was it securely stored? was it purchased for the shooter? did the parents have any reasonable idea that he may use that weapon to hurt other people? those are all things that we're considering. and we'll consider when we announce whether we will charge them or not. >> you also noted there's an additional piece of evidence that is yet to be released. obviously, i certainly know the position you're in. there's a lot you can't say. you don't want to impact a potential future jury. i don't know if there's anything you can say in general terms about what that other thing relates to. >> there's the consideration of impacting a potential juror, anderson, but there's also another thing i hold that weighs on me, which is these parents are in such terrible, horrible grief. it's a terrible thing what happened. the information that will be announced tomorrow will also disclose that it probably could have been prevented. and that is unconscionable. so it's just not enough to charge this shooter and prosecute and convict and incarcerate. that is -- we will do that. i will do that passionately, like these were my own children. but the question we have to ask now is, what are we going to do? because we have to do better. and i believe part of that is holding people accountable. gun ownership is a right, but with that right comes responsibilities and duties. and if you're going to be a responsible gun owner, and i know several of them, i grew up with guns in my home. my dad was a hunter, i'm certainly not saying people shouldn't have guns. i'm saying that they should be held accountable to what happens to that gun. you must secure it safely. you must make sure that it doesn't end up in the hands of somebody that intends to do harm or in this case go into a school, come out of a bathroom, shoot any person that he could find, and murder children. somebody has to be accountable. and yes, we're going to hold him accountable, but we're also going to make sure that the person or the individuals that gave him access to that weapon and did so and not just in a negligible way, far beyond negligence, are held accountable. i spoke to these parents the day after this happened. and you know, i have done a lot of things in my career, i prosecuted really terrible crimes. i was a family court judge, and i'm a mom, but i will tell you, those are some of the most painful moments of my life, to -- because there's just nothing we can say. they sent their children to school. and that should be a place where when you take your child to school, that's the place we don't worry about them. anderson, you're a parent. i'm a parent. i have heard from so many parents across the country. they want people to be held accountable. and that doesn't mean you can't have a gun. it means that if you're going to own a gun, you should do so safely. >> you said what the parents did, i'm paraphrasing, and correct me if i'm wrong, but was far beyond just negligence. negligently leaving the gun unsecured or whatever the details of it may be. are you saying that they somehow encouraged him to have a weapon or to give him the weapon? can you say? >> i'm not saying anything definitive at this moment, and again, you understand why i can't do that. it's not respectful to the victims at this point. i will say that it doesn't take encouragement to harm or kill people that would rise to the level of criminal culpability. it takes the knowledge and the probability that that may happen, and then knowingly allowing that individual to have access to other weapons. >> finally, the fact that school officials met with the parents and this young man on the day of the actual shooting, hours before, again, i know there's a lot you can't say, but it's my job to ask. is there something in that meeting that the parents should have then informed the school about? or at the very least, informed somebody about or taken away access to the weapon to their child? is there something that happened in that meeting that should have, could have prevented the course of this, if people had acted responsibly? >> the event that caused the teacher concern and that had the school officials bring parents to school was -- it's hard to look at that, what was produced at that meeting, and everybody looked at, it's very hard to look at that and say that there was no concern. and unfortunately, he was allowed to get back to class. and we now know he had a weapon with him at that time. and that is simply tragic. and it's my job to hold people accountable who violate the law. and that's all i can say right now. >> let me just ask, did he have the gun in the meeting with his parents and the school official? do you know when he got the weapon? >> i think that it's already been public that he did have the weapon. during covid, they don't use lockers, so they just have backpacks. >> so he had a backpack, you believe, in the meeting with the gun in it when he was meeting with school officials and his parents. >> that's a very strong possibility. >> karen mcdonald, i appreciate the situation you're in and the work you're doing, obviously, and i appreciate you spending some time with us tonight and i wish you the best. >> thank you. >> karen mcdonald. coming up next, breaking news. senators voting any moment now on a bill to keep the government running, but only after republican lawmakers threaten to shut down if they didn't get their way on weakening what many experts see is a key measure for stopping the spread of covid. i'm a reporter for the new york times. if you just hold it like this. yeah. ♪ i love finding out things that other people don't want me to know. mm-hmm. [beep] i just wanted to say... ♪ find yourself in these situations and see who you are. and that's just part of the bargain. ♪ ♪ ♪ when the chapstick goes on. it's on. get yours on at chapstick.com when it comes to autism, finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org - san francisco can have criminal justice reform and public safety. but district attorney chesa boudin is failing on both. - the safety of san francisco is dependent upon chesa being recalled as soon as possible. - i didn't support the newsom recall but this is different. - chesa takes a very radical perspective and approach to criminal justice reform, which is having a negative impact on communities of color. - i never in a million years thought that my son, let alone any six-year-old, would be gunned down in the streets of san francisco and not get any justice. - chesa's failure has resulted in increase in crime against asian americans. - the da's office is in complete turmoil at this point. - for chesa boudin to intervene in so many cases is both bad management and dangerous for the city of san francisco. - we are for criminal justice reform. chesa's not it. recall chesa boudin now. breaking news out of the capitol. the senate is set to vote on funding to stop the government shut down. around the top of the hour is the latest estimate for when it could happen. the house passed the measure earlier today, but we wouldn't even be doing this at nearly the 11th hour if a group of house and senate republicans hadn't been trying to hold up the bill unless it defunded president biden's directive that large employers require people get vaccinate against covid or get tested for it regularly. they wanted to shut down the government for that. simply, they were willing to shut don the entire government with all that entails, including jeopardizing the economy in the name of making it easier for individuals to spread a deadly virus. said one congressman, chip roy of texas, quote, i think we should be throwing our bodies in front of the train of the continuing resolution while vaccine mandates are in place. just to be clear, that is not a real train he's talking about. only a real virus. and real hypocrisy, because some of the same lawmakers trying to tie the president's hands on vaccines, mask wearing and other anti-covid measures are also criticizing his handling of the pandemic. >> i took president biden at his word. i took him at his word when he said he was going to get covid under control. mr. speaker, unfortunately, more americans have died this year than last year under covid. >> that's house republican leader kevin mccarthy who voted against the continuing resolution tonight, echoing what has become a republican talking point and a sore point for the white house. >> these supporters of this -- of the former president, are advocating for shutting the federal government down, so that 20% of the public who are refusing to get vaccinated or tested can be free to infect their coworkers, our children, filling hospitals that that is what they're advocating for. they want to shut the government down in order to advocate for people to assert that on society. >> joining us now, cnn political analyst and axios managing editor margaret talive, and also democratic strategist paul begala. what does it say that some republicans feel shutting down the government and undermining vaccines are winning issues for them? >> anderson, the polling shows that for some of those republicans, that is actually true. nationwide, as you know, a clear majority of americans support vaccine mandates. and support getting the vaccine, but -- and that's certainly even more true for democrats. it's just not true if you look at republicans alone, republican voking blocs alone. when you look at two of the leaders behind the senate amendment that's being voted on right now that's going to fail, but the defund vaccine mandate, you're looking at mike lee from utah, roger marshall from kansas. these are states where the vaccination rate is like 55%, 56%. it's below the national average. it's pulling the numbers back, and in their states, in many of the states where you're seeing yes votes on this amendment, they have vaccination rates below 50%, and real feeling among many of their constituents that it's a civil liberties issue, et cetera, so it's become politicized and this will come up in primary contests, this will come up in the 2024 presidential primary, some of the republicans you see talking about people's right not to get vaccinated, these are people who are either facing primary challenges or are going to be running for president in 2024 and you're seeing that play out. >> paul, it does seem to be kind of a hypocritical position to be attacking for the president's performance on covid and at the same time, trying to undercut what the president has done to get more people to get vaccinated. >> right, it's like they're rooting for the virus instead of the victims. and i think margaret makes a really good point. this is increasingly a red state plague. i looked at senator marshall in particular. he's a doctor, and he has said he's vaccinated, so he knows better. me knows the science. he's a medical doctor before he became a senator. and he's from butler county, kansas. i looked it up. butler county, kansas, has 25 cases of covid right now. san francisco, more than ten times the size, only has 45 cases. the hospitalization rate in butler county, kansas, is up 38% in the last two weeks. in san francisco, it's down 19%. why? because 77% of san franciscans are vaccinated and only 40% of butler county, kansas, are vaccinated. they're dying because of failed leadership and they're being misled. they're good people, and they're no dumber than anybody in san francisco, but they're being misled by their leaders. dr. marshall ought to know better. i can't believe a man who's a medical doctor would be misleading people like this. >> how much control does mitch mccome have over the senate republicans in congress right now? are these senators looking to him for their cues or is it all coming from mar-a-lago? >> it's the right question. i think in tonight's case, mitch mcconnell is showing he still does have the ability to corral votes when he needs to. what's going to happen, the shutdown, unless something goes horribly weird the next hour or so, is going to be averted because mitch mcconnell and a large bloc of republican leaders, who are kind of more centrist or traditional, republicans are saying we're to the going to shut down. it's a terrible idea, it's stupid. and they managed to work out a deal where there would be a simple majority vote that everybody knew was going to fail so people who wanted to go on record in favor of defunding biden's vaccine mandate and the shutdown could be averted. but can mcconnell, you know -- can mcconnell completely clamp down on the section of the party that's giving him -- in the house? no. we know the answer. can he avoid votes like this at all? no. but he's still showing the ability to get things done the way he needs to. he felt strongly and publicly that a shutdown over this was not a good idea, but if these team wanted to go to the board with their votes he would help them. >> thank you both. up next, more breaking news. the prosecution resting in the trial of actor jussie smollett accused of staging his own hate crime. it was a wild day in court. surprising accusations and heated exchanges, emotional outbreaks. cnn's omar jimenez has more coming up next. happy holidays from lexus. get 1.9% apr financing on the 2022 es 350. ♪ for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're living with hiv, keep loving who you are. and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're living with hiv, keep loving who you are. and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. breaking news -- the prosecution rested in the trial of former "empire" star jussie smollett after three days of testimony. the two brothers accused of attacking smollett say smollett staged the attack. smollett, who is gay told him to carry out a fake hate crime while pretending to be trump supporters to garner media attention, but smollett's attorney called for a mistrial and became emotional, saying the judge would. i how her to continue a critical line of questioning for defense. she also claims the judge lunged at her in a side bar, which he denies. cnn's correspondent omar jiminez joins us now from the courthouse. first of all, why is the attorney calling for a mistrial? >> reporter: this is because the defense attorney felt the judge demeaned a critical line of questioning or a line they felt was critical to their defense. this happened during the testimony of ola osendero. basically, what happened was the attorney was asking about potentially homophobic remarks he had made when he described someone as "a fruit." when the defense attorney asked if he would describe a woman that way, the judge said that this line of questioning was collateral, so she asked for a side bar. the jury was sent out of the room. she and her defense team called for a mistrial. things escalated. she got emotional and began to sob as she said it was inappropriate for the judge to make that comment about a major portion of their case, at which point she also wanted to say on the record that the judge lunged at her during a side bar, which as you mentioned, the judge denied. a second defense attorney got up and said the judge had been making faces during the course of their objections and the judge shot back and said, you're really good at making faces. so this was a really tense exchange that played out over a good portion of the course of an hour with the jury out of the room. the jury came back and it continued. and cross-examination with this witness continued, calmly i should say. >> the lawyer was crying talking to the judge? >> reporter: yeah, this came when she was trying to make her point about why what the judge did was so wrong and inappropriate in the face of the jury, that they felt like this idea that ola could have been homophobic was a theory they had, that could have been a motivation for what they believe was a real hate crime attack against jussie smollett. she felt it was prejudicial, in a way. when he came back, he told them not to consider those words. >> thank you. coming up, alec baldwin's exclusive interview about the deadly shooting on that movie set. what's he's saying for the first time about the tragedy next. oma. vazalore... is the first liquid-filled aspirin capsule clinically shown to cause fewer ulcers than plain aspirin. try new vazalore. aspirin made amazing!