and south africa says that's essentially what they are witnessing in real time. >> i think this is like the scope of the vaccines regarding omicron, but interesting enough, it's more disease, and that is what was also -- what was always been said, it's -- to protect you at least between 94% and 96% and hospitalization, if i look at the facts, in the public sector hospital the majority -- and i know it's 90-plus -- of people in the icus are unvaccinated people. >> we want to get straight to cnn's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. elizabeth, this seems like good news. tell us more about pfizer's data. >> reporter: ana, it certainly is good news. i think there was a lot of fear that because omicron has so many mutations on the spike protein that the vaccine wasn't going to work very well. and the vaccine certainly takes a hit, but it still is protective it appears against severe disease. before i talk about the data that pfizer has, i know that people listening are thinking, yeah, well, pfizer thinks three shots is better than two, what a surprise that a pharmaceutical company wants to sell more shots. and while i understand that cynicism and to some extent share it, it is interesting and important to note that the pfizer data really meshes with data from a south africa lab and also meshes with what doctors like the doctor we heard from are seeing in south africa. it all completes sort of a similar picture. so let's look at what the pfizer data and the south africa lab data together show. what they found is that two doses of pfizer may not provide sufficient protection against infection with omicron. in other words, if you've had two doses, you might still get infected with omicron, but let's face it, if you don't get very sick, that's not necessarily a very big deal. what they did find is that two doses may still give significant protection against severe disease, significant is the word that dr. alex seigel, the researcher in south africa, that's the word he use wednesday me when i spoke -- used with me when i spoke to him. he thinks that two doses will give significant protection against severe disease. but it's very clear from the pfizer data that the third dose may give more robust protection. so i think what this has a lot of people asking is, well, is this basically a three-dose vaccine? is this a vaccine like many other vaccines that ought to be given in three doses? so our colleague, kate bolduan, had a discussion about this earlier with dr. anthony fauci. >> i don't see that changing tomorrow or next week. but certainly if you want to talk about what optimal protection is, i don't think anybody would argue that optimal protection is going to be with the third shot. whether or not it officially gets changed in the definition, i think that's going to be considered literally on a daily basis. that's always on the table. it's going to be a matter of when, not if. >> reporter: now it's interesting, i think the bottom line of what dr. fauci is saying here is, look, get your vaccine, of course, and get a booster. it doesn't really matter what the definition is -- we know that you ought to get the original vaccine and then six months later ought to get a booster. ana? >> again, we're talking about pfizer right now. when can we expect data on moderna and j&j's vaccines? >> so moderna has said that they expect to have data in about a week or so. johnson & johnson are looking into it about how their vaccine will do against omicron, but they haven't given a timetable yet. >> okay. we know you'll keep us posted, thank you. i want to talk more about this with dr. lena wen, former baltimore health commissioner as well as author of "lifelines: a doctor's journey in the fight for public health." the recommendation now is for adults to get a pfizer or moderna booster six months after the second dose. j&j is two months after the first dose. just considering these latest developments, could that booster timeline change? >> it could, and i think that our federal health officials should be actively evaluating this so that we're not behind when it comes to the recommendations. i will say that the data emerging from south africa, the emerging data from pfizer out this morning are not surprising. actually, this is what we have been anticipating all along, that there's good news and bad news. the bad news being that there's some degree of immune escape, that two doses may not work as well as against previous variants. but i think it's really good news that the third dose does appear to give that really significant additional boosting effect. and so it adds more reason for everybody to get a booster. certainly who's eligible, but also i do hope that our federal health officials will be quick to re-evaluate the definition of what it means to be fully vaccinated, especially in light of what we're learning about omicron. >> and so now it's three doses are needed. before it was two doses were good enough. what about the next time a new variant emerges? is there i guess an end to getting booster doses? >> well, at this point we don't know, and -- when we look at the pattern of other vaccines, for example you look at the hepatitis vaccine, that's a three-dose vaccine, polio vaccine is a four-dose vaccine. then you have the tetanus dose that requires a booster every ten years. the flu vaccine that requires basically a new shot every year. it may be that the covid vaccine is one of these categories. it may be that it's three vaccines and we're done for a lifetime. or maybe you need to get regular boosters. we don't know the answer to this. although i will just add one more thing here which is that scientists are working around the clock looking into this. and right now the takeaway for the american people should be that a third dose appears to be necessary at this time. that's what's going to protect us now against delta, that's really prevalent. also will protect us against omicron. >> and it is the delta variant that's wreaking havoc here in the u.s. right now. we're seeing cases, hospitalizations, and deaths all going up especially in the midwest. michigan, for instance, has more hospitalizations now than at any other point in the pandemic, same with maine. why? >> we're definitely seeing this delta wave hit across the u.s. right now, and it seems to be ebbing and flowing and in -- in different parts of the country. it hit the south hard, now it's hitting the upper midwest. this may be something that sweeps across the country at different points. this is actually what makes me worried about omicron. there are preliminary results from south africa, for example, showing that prior infection with another variant like delta may not protect you against omicron. so it's possible that if omicron becomes dominant here the parts of the country that are not yet vaccinated and boosted may get hit hard by an omicron wave. the best way, of course, for us to prevent that from happening is getting the vaccination and the booster dose, too. >> we have every reason to believe omicron is causing mild disease in vaccinated people. and yet today, there's expected to be a bipartisan vote in the senate against president biden's vaccine mandates for employees and employers with the democrats manchin and tester signaling that they will be voting with republicans on this. it's still unlikely for this to become law because it would have to pass the house, and president biden's not going to sign it. still, a bipartisan vote against vaccine mandates. how much harder does this make it to get every american vaccinated? >> yeah. i mean, we're talking here about ensuring the safety of workers and their families. you know, there's another path for the biden administration to be pursuing, too, which is to instead frame this as a testing and masking mandate. nobody is saying, i don't think at least, that we should just let workplaces have no standards whatsoever. we're saying that workplaces have a duty to ensure that their employees are safe. so why not reframe this as everybody needs to be tested and masked. but if you are vaccinated and ideally boosted, then you can opt out of that testing and masking. that might be a different framework that's not so much about compelling people to be vaccinated because ultimately that's not the goal. the goal is not just to get people vaccinated but to stop infection. frame it as testing and masking in the same way that we have tsa pre-check. everybody has to have their i.d. and -- and bags checked for devices. but if you have tsa pre-check, you're able to bypass that. maybe that's a different way of reframing the argument. >> that's an interesting idea. good to see you. thank you for all you do. pre appreciate your time. both president biden and russia's putin are weighing in now on their tense virtual summit. and this morning, president biden has a stern warning for putin. >> i made it very clear, if in fact he invades ukraine, there will be severe consequences, severe consequences. economic consequences like none he's ever seen or ever have been seen. >> earlier today, putin said his country does not want confrontation with anyone. that's despite the massive russian troop build-up on the ukrainian border. cnn national security correspondent kiley atwood is at the state department. what's the next step i guess in this diplomatic process then? >> reporter: well, listen, we know that this conversation turned tense at times. the national security adviser, however, described it as a useful conversation. and that's because he said the president was crystal clear about what the repercussions would be if russia invades ukraine. so to your question as to what's next, the white house said that both of the presidents ordered their teams to conducts follow-on conversations. we'll wait and see what comes from those conversations to see if there is a diplomatic path forward here. but in terms of why the stakes are so high here, a top state department official testified on the hill yesterday and said that what russia is doing here is similar to what it did in 2014, but also said that this is much larger and lethal in scale. it is a dramatic moment, and surely a test for the biden administration and their foreign policy. >> kylie atwood, i appreciate the update. thank you so much. canada and the unietds kingdom as well as australia all joining the u.s. in a diplomatic boycott of the 2020 beijing winter olympic games. still all four countries are expected to have their athletes compete. uk prime minister boris johnson saying that a sporting boycott is not sensible. chinese officials continue to spar with the boycotting countries. a spokesperson for the u.s. chinese embassy calling it, quote, a pretentious act and a grave distortion of the spirit of the olympic games. stunning new developments in the capitol insurrection investigation. the january 6th committee officially moving forwards to hold former trump chief of staff mark meadows in contempt. the committee also revealing new details from emails and text messages that they obtained from meadows which include a 38-page powerpoint presentation on, quote, options for the 6th of january. plus, right now, closing arguments are under way in the trial against jussie smollett. prosecutors are wrapping -- just wrapped up moments ago. the defense will try to convince a jury next that the actor did not fake a hate crime. stay with us, you're in the "cnn newsroom." people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ you are my sunshine ♪ ♪ my only sunshine... ♪ rybelsus® is a pill that lowers blood sugar in three ways. increases insulin when you need it... decreases sugar... and slows food. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ please don't take my sunshine away ♪ you may pay as little as $10 per prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. 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whatever tools we have to bring to tell the best story. between what's news and what's now, there's a bridge. cisco. the bridge to possible. bowing to former president trump and brushing off a congressional subpoena. the january 6th committee is moving forward with criminal contempt proceedings against former white house chief of staff mark meadows after he refused to appear before the committee for his scheduled deposition this morning. meadows' lawyer saying he will no longer cooperate, blaming overreach by congressional investigators. let's discuss with cnn's chief political analyst, gloria borger. and we're learning more now about the documents meadows has handed over, which the committee says includes, and i quote here, a november 7th, 2020, email discussing the appointment of alternate slates of electors as part of a direct and collateral attack after the election. a january 5th, 2021, email regarding a 38-page powerpoint briefing that's titled "election fraud, foreign interference, and options for 6th of january," that was to be provided on the hill. and among others a january ath, 2021, email, about having the national guard on standby. so first, i want to get your reaction to these stunning details about what meadows has already given this committee. >> yeah. it's quite remarkable. and also a complete turnaround now to say he's not going to cooperate after he has handed over these kind of documents. it makes you wonder who was going through these documents as they were going to hand them over to the committee. but in any case, let's look at this anin context. this november 7th, don't forget the election was november 3rd, november 7th was the day that the networks all said joe biden was going to be the next freely and fairly elect the president of the united states. so on november 7th, mark meadows was already having some kind of email conversation about what a direct and collateral attack, as it was called, after the election, and on november 5th, he was having communications about potentially having the national guard on stand by for what was to occur presumably on either that day or january 6th. and then this powerpoint, i'd like to see what it says, in an email about election fraud, et cetera, et cetera. and you'll recall that on january 6th, it took an awful long time to get the national guard over there to the capitol. yet there was an email on january 5th, presumably about that -- having them on stand by. >> so many more questions given those little, you know, bread crumbs of details of what's in this trove of documents that have already been handed over which we're learning also included some texts from meadows in the days after the election. and in this letter it says that the text messages you did produce include a november 6th, 2020, text exchanged with a member of congress about appointing electors in certain states as part of a plan that the member acknowledged would be highly controversial and mr. meadows apartparently said "i l it." he was texting with members of congress and the committee has other texts, too. >> nail figure out who the -- they'll figure out who the member of congress was and presumably will ask the member of congress about that communication. but it really does show, you know, it's not remarkable that the white house chief of staff is communicating with somebody in congress. happens all the time. but it shows you how deeply involved mark meadows was in promoting the big lie and trying to figure out a way to promote the big lie and presumably in trying to figure out a way -- how to reverse the election and hand it to donald trump. and that is exactly what the committee is investigating. and you could argue that it has nothing to do with executive privilege, which is why he handed it over, because they weren't communications with the president of the united states. even if you believe that he has the right to claim privilege on that for a former president, these are communications with other folks. so he handed it over, and presumably as we've reported the president is furious about this and grows more and more furious about this. as he sees what was in his book and as he reads now what is in these documents. >> gloria borger, thank you for joining us. >> sure. >> we'll get the legal take from the former white house ethics czar and former u.s. ambassador, and also someone who served as special counsel for the house judiciary committee during president trump's first impeachment trial. norm, your reaction to these new details, the 38-page powerpoint that includes options for january 6th and some of these communications that we're learning about. your thoughts? >> ana, thanks for having me back. first, it sounds as if the documents will need to look at them and we will eventually get to look at them. they're further evidence of the alleged election fraud scheme that the committee is probing here. if the american people voted for joe biden as president, you can't, for example, float alternative slates of presidential electors. so it's an assault on american democracy. it appears to raise issues under the election fraud laws, for example. secondly, it sounds as if there's some important evidence there about -- that may relate to the president's failure to act. what are these national guard communications? and then as gloria reflected, you know, mark meadows is -- incriminating himself and then refusing to show up. he's writing books talking about subjects. and then refusing to show up. he's setting himself up to go the way of steve bannon. prosecution for criminal contempt. >> we'll get to that in a second, but just back to this idea that they have so much already, right. what we're learning this is all part some 6,000 documents the committee already has from meadows. so can meadows put the genie back in the bottle by reverting back to executive privilege now? >> ana, the genie has left the bottle and is doing laps around washington, d.c., and the country. so there is no reverting. he's providing more evidence of what we already know to be one of the most shocking conspiracies in american history where the american people chose in a united states president aided and abetted apparently by his chief of staff, mark meadows, is talking about things like alternate slates of electors. there was a legitimately chosen slate of electors. so no, there's no putting this genie back in the bottle, and he's not going to be able to dodge culpability by refusing to cooperate. now we have the documents -- there's a saying -- people lie, documents don't. >> the committee does say it's moving forward with contempt proceedings against mark meadows, which you support, you say. but i mean, this still effectively delays the committee's search for answers, doesn't it? just look at steve bannon. his case isn't until july of next year when his trial will be for contempt. as you point out, his case is pretty straightforward here. >> the principal importance of criminal contempt is to demonstrate that there are serious consequences if you don't cooperate. and remember, ana, there are hundreds of individuals who are coop cooperating, many thousands of document that have come into the committee, and they're already putting together what appears to be a compelling narrative. we'll have public hearings, there will be a mosaic of evidence presented. so although i would like to see a faster trial of bannon and meadows' trial will presumably be after bannon's, the more important you have two noncooperators, but the more important message is, hey, if you don't cooperate with the committee, you're going to face consequences. that's why they're getting all the other evidence that is coming in to help them tell the story. >> we're also learning roger stone is planning to plead the fifth. that's another tactic we've been seeing. former doj official, jeffrey clark is another one. his attorney has indicated he'll take the fifth. here's congressman adam schiff addressing this issue -- >> if they're asserting the fifth merely to cater to the president's whims or cover up for the president, that is not a proper use of the privilege. but we will have to do our best to divine if they're properly invoking the fifth or using it as a strategy to keep information -- >> norm, how does the committee figure out who can plead the fifth legitimately and who's just trying to stonewall? what can they do about it? >> well, there are serious criminal issues here as we've been discussing. if you lose an election, you can't then attempt to tell lies or commit fraud, to hang on to your office. so to the extent there was a conspiracy, election fraud or otherwise, there's criminal issues. but you can't just say i'm going to take the fifth on twitter and -- and that's the end of the story. these individuals will need to show up, they need to answer questions. they'll need to assert the privilege. they'll -- may need to explain the basis. there may be questions where it doesn't apply. they have to produce documents. the fifth amendment has much narrower application to documents. and then if the committee determines that it's a legitimate invocation of the constitutional privilege, committee can go to court and can get an immunity order to force testimony if the testimony is important, or if the committee thinks it's illegitimate for whatever reason like you wrote a book, roger stone has talked a lot about these episodes. others invoking the fifth have gone on steve bannon's podcast to talk about what happened. if the committee determines that it was illegitimate, it can proceed with contempt. so the committee has tools to probe what's happening and to respond. >> norm, great to have you here. thank you so much. we are following new developments now in two major trials. right now closing arguments are under way in the jussie smollett trial. remember he's accused of faking a hate crime, and his defense attorneys just argued that the prosecution's case is built on the testimony of certified liars. plus, opening statements now under way in the trial of kim potter. she's the former cop who claims she mistook her gun for a taser when she shot and killed unarmed black man dante wright. music: ♪ “i got you babe” by etta james ♪ get groceries, gifts, & more fast and easy so last minute guests are the only thing you'll be waiting on ♪ ♪ joy. fully. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash... and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. ray loves vacations. but his diabetes never seemed to take one. everything felt like a 'no'. everything. but then ray went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it 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future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. opening statement are under way in the trial of kimberly potter. she's the former police officer who fatally shot donte wright during a routine traffic stop near minneapolis in april. this was at the time the chanuvn trial was going on. she claims she mistook her gun for her taser. in police footage she is heard yelling taser repeatedly before pfe firing her gun at the unarmed 20-year-old. [ inaudible ] >> i'll tase you. taser, taser, taser. >> more from adrian, she's facing manslaughter charges and is pleading not guilty. what are you hearing? >> reporter: compelling opening statements from both sides. let's start with the prosecution. on the prosecution, they started by narrowing in on potter's training. underscoring that she has 26 years of experience, pointing out that she's been an officer longer than duante wright was alive. when the prosecuting attorney made her opening statements, she talked about the training potter underscored, even additional use of force training, and was recertified on her taser one month before the killing. and according to the prosecutors, potter violated the brooklyn center police department's policy when it comes to use of force. listen in. >> this case is about an officer who knew not to get it dead wrong, but she failed to get it right. this case is about the defendant, kimberly potter, betraying her badge and betraying her oath and betraying her position of public trust. and on april 11th of this year, she betrayed a 20-year-old kid. she pulled out her firearm, she pointed it at his chest, and she shot and killed duante wright. >> reporter: also during her opening statements, she showed jurors video, aftermath video. that video, on it you can hear potter's first words after the shooting when she says, "killed a boy. i'm going to prison." prosecutors say she did not radio for help. by contrast, defense attorneys representing potter saying this was a mistake, she meant to pull for her gun instead of her taser. and -- excuse me, she meant to pull for her taser instead of her gun, and blaming all of this on the actions of the deceased. listen in. >> so when she says "taser, ta taser, taser," there's one last pause, the facts will show you, mr. wright can stop -- all highway ha-- all he has to do i stop and he'd be with us. but he goes. she can't let him leave because he's going to kill her partner. and so she does taser, taser, taser, and she pulls the trigger, believing that it was a taser. why else would she say it? >> reporter: that's a question the jury will have to decide, and the jury will have to decide whether or not potter is guilty of these first and second-degree manslaughter charges. ana? >> thank you. we're also keeping a close eye on another high-profile case. closing arguments are under way in the jussie smollett trial. the former "empire" actor took the stand in his own defense yesterday to rebut allegations that he staged a hoax hate crime and lied about it to police in 2019. smollett has pleaded not guilty to six counts of disorderly conduct on suspicion of making false reports to police. cnn's omar jimenez is in chicago for us. what stands out from today's closing arguments, and how soon could we have a verdict? >> reporter: well, ana, the defense is in their closing arguments right now after the prosecution went for close to two hours. for both sides, this is their chance to tie together all the evidence and testimony we've seen in this trial for those jurors. now the prosecution laid out key pieces of evidence they say destroyed jussie smollett's credibility, including what special prosecutor dan webb told jurors was withholding medical, cell phone, and dna records. specifically, dan webb said that if he's truly the victim of a hate crime, as opposed to the perpetrator of a fake hate crime, you want the police to do their job. another one of those key pieces of evidence was the osundairo brothers couldn't have attacked without advanced knowledge to alc which he said 2:00 in the morning at the condo and he went to walgreens to get eggs. how could the brothers ever know to be right at that intersection right at 2:00 a.m.? then webb pointblank accused smollett of lying under oath. he was providing you false testimony on critical issues, he said to the jurors. his testimony at the end of the day lacks any credibility whatsoever. now these are all things smollett has denied. but bottom line, the prosecution said they need to prove two things -- that jussie smollett created a plan for a fake hate crime and that he falsely reported that fake hate crime to the chicago police department as a real hate crime. as mentioned, the defense is speaking now. once they're done, rebuttal. goes to the jury and they'll have the final word. ana? >> thank you. that means they could get the case today and begin dlibdss. let's bring in a criminal defense attorney now. sarah, i know defense arguments, closing arguments are under way at the moment, but you've been following this trial the last several days. who do you think has made the more compelling case? the prosecution or the defense? >> the prosecution. as omar said, you know, they had two things to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that this was planned and that he made a false report to the police department. i think they've done a great job at doing that. i think the prosecutor, really the headline of the closing argument was, look, this guy is a trained actor. he's lying to you. he put on a show in the courtroom. and you can't believe a word he's saying. that's interesting because they took almost two hours to make this argument. dismantling all of the iterations by smollett on the stand. you know, there are two reasons that a defendant testifies -- to humanize himself and then to explain a story. but that story has to be plausible. and it just simply isn't here. you know, the idea that these guys hate me and they're homophobic, but i had sex with one of them -- then, you know, i had a training session the next day and didn't show up and didn't cancel it -- maybe you cancelled it when you were doing the staged attack, i don't know. nothing adds up. what i've been repeatedly saying, which i was pleased to see this prosecutor argue in closing, is the idea that if you are a victim of a crime you want the perpetrator to be brought to justice. you don't say that you don't believe in dna because you don't believe in ancestry.com, you don't refuse to turn over your cell phone and your medical records because the police are maga people and you don't trust -- none of this makes sense. that's why the prosecutor's saying you've got to use your common sense. >> do you think it was a mistake for smollett to take the stand? >> yes, it was a mistake because i think he hurt himself. i don't think he helped himself. again, like the explanation is not just any explanation, it's got to be a credible story, a believable story. but at the same time, there's no way to argue what the defense is arguing without him having testified. i think the hope was he's an actor, he's trained, he's going to testify in a compelling manner. let's give it a shot. >> help us understand the charges a little tle better. six counts of disorderly conduct on suspicion of making false reports to police. that's what he's facing. he's pleaded not guilty to all the charges. help us understand those and what is the potential likelihood he could face jail time if convicted? >> right. so remember this was a case of 16 counts that the initial da mysteriously dismissed, and then the special prosecutor was assigned, he's a former federal prosecutor, to try to this case on six counts. each of these counts carries one to three years in jail. the likelihood of probation has always been there if smollett had settled the charges by way of a plea agreement. he's gone to trial. he's told a story that this judge very well may not believe, and this judge is the sentencer in this case. so when it comes down to sentencing, if he's found guilty on any of these counts, the judge is going to say you wasted the court's resources with a bunch of lies, you've wasted the prosecution's resources with a bunch of lies, and you deserve to be punished. so that possibility of probation is out the window. >> sarah azari, i appreciate your expertise. thank you for being with us. >> good to be with you. all eyes are on speaker nancy pelosi facing growing pressure from the progressive democrats in her caucus to punish congresswoman lauren boebert for bigoted and racist remarks. why the speaker is hesitating next. what's strong with me? 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>> reporter: well, i think she's in the middle of a dispute right now among democrats a little bit about what the best action is to take right now. she has repeatedly said that what she wants to happen is she wants republican leaders like kevin mccarthy to take care of their own conference. and when a member like this makes these kinds of racist remarks, she wants him to stand up and decide what to do with his own members. that is a step that former speakers and former leaders have taken among members of their own conferences and caucuses. yet, pelosi is arguing that it's not clear exactly what the direction is going to be. she said earlier today at her press conference that she wanted mccarthy to handle this, and other people who are close to her say that there is really a discussion right now as to whether it's helpful for the democratic party to take further action against boebert given the fact that she just goes out and gets more attention, raises more money, and there may not be that widespread of democratic support to take this step right now against boebert, despite the fact that they have taken similar steps against marjorie taylor greene as well as paul gosar a few weeks ago for posting that anime video depicting the murder of a fellow congresswoman. so that is sort of the debate happening now within the democratic party. and sources tell me that there is still a discussion happening, no final decisions have been made, but that just gives you a sense of what democrats are kind of reckoning right now. do you want to give there person any -- give this person any more attention? >> i hate to give her more attention, but our job is to hold people in power accountable. she's a member of congress. she is also turning heads over this new picture she posted, apparently following the lead of a fellow republican. this is a christmas photo of her kids ranging in age from 8 to 15. and you can see they're holding semiautomatic-style rifles. this picture, by the way, was posted just days after yet another deadly school shooting. how's this being received on capitol hill? >> reporter: this isn't the first photograph like this that was posted by a republican member of congress. thomas massey had a similar photo a few days ago. this is getting into problems within the republican conference because there is a feeling among some members who are there to legislate that there are some members in their conference who just want attention, who just want to be grifterses as representative dan crenshaw said this week. i think that is one of the challenges that republicans have in their midst is the fact that lauren boebert is going to keep posting these kinds of photos, keep saying the comments she's been saying. and that's why this is so difficult to tie it back to the democratic problem of whether or not they're going to take action because she's not going to stop no matter what the punishment is. ana? >> lauren, thank you very much. less than a year after surviving a horrific rollover car crash, golf legend tiger woods is back. when and where you can watch his return to the course next. ...and dry, cracked skin. new gold bond advanced healing ointment. restore healthy skin, with no sticky feeling. gold bond. champion your skin. ♪ christmas music ♪ ♪ ♪ if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back, what?! no! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating the eyes and may provide temporary relief. xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. it can provide lasting relief. xiidra is the only fda-approved non-steroid eye drop specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. one drop in each eye, twice a day. don't use if you are allergic to xiidra. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. after using xiidra wait 15 minutes before reinserting contacts. ♪ this holiday, ask your doctor about xiidra. umph! so, who's it going to be? tom? could be danny. guess it's on maggie. should we have another one? talk to us about retirement today. feel comfortable about tomorrow. massmutual. tiger woods is returning to golf less than a year after his serious car accident, tiger plans to tee off next week at the pnc championship, an annual father/son championship in orlando, florida. let's bring in cnn world sports anchor, don redell. last week, tiger spoke out for the first time since that accident. he described the depths of his recovery, and at the time, we reported that he didn't know when he would actually return. are you surprised it's already next week? >> ana, in some ways, i am surprised, especially when you consider what exactly he said. he gave that interview to "golf digest" and spoke to the media when he was in the bahamas, hosting the heroes challenge week, and he was saying that he was lucky to have survived that car accident. he was saying that he was lucky to still have the limb. when he was pressed on it, he said that amputation was very much on the table. and here we are, ten months later. now, we've seen video of him swinging the golf club, he's been asked how good his game is, and he says he can hit the clubs, but the balls just don't go that far. so clearly, this is not a return to competitive action. here's why i'm not surprised that he's playing this. it's not a major event on the pga tour. it's not going to be a grueling four days of golf. it's only a two-day tournament. it's been reported by espn that he'll be able to use a car, and crucially, he'll be playing with his son, charlie. we saw him last year playing with his son and the scenes were just wonderful. tiger looked the happiest we've ever seen him on a golf course, and that's saying something when you consider all the success that he's achieved. and i think he said as much, as well. he's so proud of this young man. there will be a lot of excitement and interest in watching charlie, because he was very good last year. we should all just enjoy it. but this in no way implies that tiger woods is returning to golf. he says he'll never be a full-time golfer again. >> that's right. >> and even just playing competitively on the tour for one event is something that's a long way from where he is now. >> okay, well, thank you for that, don redell, i appreciate it. that does it for me today. thank you all for joining us. we'll see you tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern. in the meantime, you can follow me on twitter at ana cabrera. thanks again for being here. the news continues next with alisyn and victor. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you booked a sunny vrbo ski chalet. with endless views of snow-covered peaks. ♪ ♪ a stove that inspires magnificent hot cocoa. and a perfect ski-in ski-out. but the thing they'll remember forever? 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