>> respectfully, i don't think you can take one or two examples and indicate that's indicative of what happens on the platform more broadly. >> reporter: pledging the company will do more to protect young users but it's too little, too late for people like ian russell who lost his daughter molly to suicide in 2017. >> there was no sign of any mental ill health in molly before her death. we couldn't work out what could possibly trigger it. >> reporter: russell says he looked at his daughter's social media and was disturbed by what he saw on platforms including instagram. >> having had a glimpse of what she was exposed to, i think i now understand why she was pushed to do what she did. >> reporter: adding to the pressures on the social media giant a bipartisan group of state attorneys general launched an investigation into the potential harms of instagram for children and teens. meta claiming the allegations are false. and that hearing just ending on capitol hill in the last few seconds. what we heard was a lot of frustration from senators. frustration that mosseri wasn't being forthcoming enough about data and information about what facebook, what instagram, what meta, whatever you want to call it knows about the harms it can have on young people. and finally, an important point, i think, he was also asked, you know y is it when parents see stuff on the platform that they take issue with that they think is darges for their kids, oftentimes stuff gets reported to facebook and facebook does nothing about it. mosseri says when that happens, it's a mistake. donie o'sullivan, thanks. let's discuss with "wall street journal" tech reporter deepa and jim steyer, the founder of common sense media which focuses on media, internet and technology safety for kids. so seetha, senators asked the head of instagram about data showing that the app is addictive and he flat out r rejected the notion it's addictive, which i think all of us can probably agree it's pretty addictive. how does it line up with all of the internal documents that you obtained from facebook which owns instagram when it comes to young users? >> yeah, i am not 100% sure how adam would reconcile those public comments today with the black and white data that we see. it's not even just this teen research. the teen research shows the use knowledge of agreement tended to yield or for a sizable percentage of them, resulted in negative feelings about themselves, bad self image. more broadly beyond what the instagram research about teens show, there are -- there is other research within the company that we have reported on that shows about 1 in 8 users globally have some kind of problematic use, meaning they use facebook to the exclusion of spending time with friends or doing their jobs or spending time with their kids and so there is -- there is definitely a problem at least according to these documents that show that the company has addictive properties and that they need to do something about it. so i'm not really sure how you reconcile that internal research with what adam is saying publicly. >> instagram is trying to point to the new teen safety tools as concrete actions they're taking. one function that blocks adults from messaging kids under 18 unless they follow each other. do you think these new features will do anything to actually protect kids? >> absolutely not. far too little, far too late, jake. and actually thank you for your extraordinary reporting on this. no, i do not think they will do anything. they're just a pr stunt at the last minute because adam realized he was going to be testifying in front of congress. and as he said, look, the surgeon general of the united states came out with an extraordinary plan yesterday about teen mental health. and he specifically referred to the experiences that young people, kids and teens are having on platforms like instagram and the impact on their social and emotional well-being. so for adam to get up there and basically do the classic facebook deny, deflect, distract, oh, we'll fix this some day, this is what we've seen from this company and quite frankly from the leadership. so i think it's an extraordinarily important hearing because it just exposes the sort of cynical attitude that i believe facebook and instagram have had to these issues that kids and teens experience on their platform. but i also think, jake, we're going to see for the first time and we sure need it, bipartisan serious legislation that reins in instagram, facebook and some of the other platforms and the hearing, if it doesn't lead to action, will just be an exercise, but i think finally we'll get some action out of congress. >> given how much time you've spent reporting on how instagram does harm teenagers, are you surprised by these new claims showing how easy it is for kids to buy drugs on instagram with just a few clicks? you understand these algorithms work, how they work more than most americans. >> i mean, i think this is part of a broader trend we've seen. instagram is pretty clear that their policies don't allow drug sales and it is in black and white. there are those rules. but the question has never been whether or not instagram allows this kind of activity. it's how well they enforce their rules. and that's been the issue with facebook or meta and all of its different properties for years. it's about enforcement. and so, no, it doesn't surprise me that it's possible to find drug sales or any kind of bad content on instagram. it's a known problem. but the company keeps saying they're working on it, that they're putting all these resources into the issue to try to fight it, but -- and yet it continues to be extremely easy to find some of this content. so that's just another struggle that they continue to have. >> yeah. >> jim, agreement says it removed 1.8 million pieces of drug-related content in the last few months and it will continue to improve in this area. why is it that instagram, which is worth billions and billions of dollars, why is it that they're always having to take these basic steps and only after their problems are widely exposed? >> because fundamentally -- fundamentally -- fundamentally, they don't care, jake. i apologize. >> somebody is calling you? all right. do we -- we can't hear you now, jim, so -- >> can you hear me? >> now i can. fundamentally they don't care you said. >> fundamentally they have a business model that as you mentioned really does addict kids and teens and other people. they don't really care. and so they come up with pr excuses. but it's the same pattern, and as deepa said, the drug issue is real. they do not enforce their policies, if they happen to have them. and at the end of the day, the big losers are kids and teens just like our children. so this is a moment of reckoning. i really do believe that. and mosseri's comments are typical when you see zuckerberg testify and also give lame excuses and not address the fact that this is happening on their platform. so hopefully this is a big moment of reckoning for this company and that we will see, finally, major legislation that reins them in. >> deepa and jim, thanks to both of you for your time and insights. if you or your loved ones are experiencing any suicidal thoughts, please call the national suicide prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. or you can text home to 741741 to reach the crisis text line. both services are free and they're confidential and available 24/7. coming up next -- christmas cards with a loaded message. why republican members of congress are being criticized by democrats for their holiday photos. plus, breaking right now. new studies showing how a booster shot can drastically reduce the threat of covid. stay with us. 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. this... is the planning effect. this is how it feels to have a dedicated fidelity advisor looking at your full financial picture. this is what it's like to have a comprehensive wealth plan with tax-smart investing strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. and set aside more for things like healthcare, or whatever comes down the road. this is "the planning effect" from fidelity. y'all heard it here. if you wanna be fresh, you gotta refresh, like subway®. like the new baja steak & jack tender, thicker-cut steak and. wait sooo you're not coming out of retirement? 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(vo) visible. switch and get up to $200, plus our best ear buds, on us. ♪day to night to morning,♪ ♪keep with me in the moment♪ ♪i'd let you had i known it, why don't you say so?♪ ♪didn't even notice,♪ ♪no punches left to roll with♪ ♪you got to keep me focused♪ in our politics lead today house speaker nancy pelosi is offering no hints into how or if her party will publicly rebuke republican congresswoman laura boebert for her anti-muslim bigotry. >> what action was promised if any to congresswoman omar, and are you expecting to take any action against congresswoman boebert. >> when i'm ready to announce that, i'll let you know. >> boebert has smeared democratic congresswoman ilhan omar of minnesota as a terrorist. now progressives are pushing a resolution that could strip boebert of her committee assignments. let's bring in manu raju on capitol hill. omar told me two days ago that pelosi promised she heard that she would take action this week on bobert, but pelosi now seems reluctant to even talk about this. >> she has snapped at reporters multiple times today who have asked her directly about whether or not they will take action to punish lauren boebert. and this because the progressives in the house are pushing for that punishment. pushing that lauren boebert should be stripped from her committee assignments in the aftermath of those comments and arguing that she should suffer the same fate as two other republicans who came under fire from democrats and who lost their committee spots, paul gosart and marjorie taylor greene and that has essentially set a precedent when the majority party can go after minority party members, kick them out of their committee assignments if they've done something that members find offensive. in this case, progressives say there's no reason why boebert should be removed. pelosi in the leadership team clearly views this fight as a distraction. wanting to instead focus on the democratic agenda instead. i asked pelosi, what is the difference here between what happened with those other two republicans and now boebert and why not is the action not being taken if there is any difference? >> what makes the boebert situation any different? >> intensification of their neglect. it's their responsibility to deal with their people. how we deal with addressing the fear that they have instilled in the -- with their islamophobia and the rest is something that hopefully we can do in a bipartisan way. >> jake, one big reason that is driving the reluctance of the speaker to move forward is the fact that there are vulnerable democratic members i'm told who are concerned about having a vote on this issue. don't believe it is necessary to have a vote on this issue and that's raising other concerns that they were to move ahead to strip lauren boebert of committee assignments. perhaps they'd not even have the votes to pull that often given that democrats can only afford to lose three votes in order to move ahead on anything, assuming this goes down straight along party lines here. you're seeing the speaker, jake, facing serious pressure from the left but willing to move forward on another route. we'll see if she changes her mind but the democratic leadership has not been willing to embrace this form of punishment. >> manu raju, thank you. earlier today, daniela diaz asked pelosi if she wanted to strip boebert. it's a responsibility of republicans to discipline their members and then she scolded her for not asking about the legislation that passed through the house last night on raising the debt ceiling and colossally huge defense funding bill. and pelosi has taken this tone all day. she's obviously irritated by this. lauren boebert is a bigot and her comments are reprehensible. but do you think pelosi is concerned this vote doesn't put food on anyone's table, doesn't help bring down inflation, doesn't help provide day care. what's going on? >> particularly at a time when the president and democrats are trying to get his build back better agenda across the finish line before the end of the year and you have congress expected to leave town in the next few days, potentially to come back for the debt limit vote. but this is certainly not what they, democrats, even want to be focused on at this point. >> and olivia, progressive congresswoman priscilla is leading this. she said this about why she's taking this route. >> inaction is to be complicit. so we need accountability. representative boebert should be stripped of her committees. as i said, the world is watching. this is not just about representative omar. it's about every muslim that calls this country home. and i might add also a formidable voting bloc. >> traditionally would something like this be sent to the ethics committee? what's the more normal way to do this? >> that's one of the possibilities here. one of the challenges for democrats is they don't have a lot of arrows in their quiver to respond to this. not only because doing the right thing might get you more of the wrong thing since some of these members of congress are just attention hounds but also because it's not that significant a punishment. this is like passing a law that would forbid me from being a member of the american gymnastics team at the olympics. these are not legislative titans. stripping them of their committees is not going to undermine their legislative agendas. but so it puts them in a bind because, yes, this is a -- it's hard calling it a distraction because they're trying to respond to some really ugly language. >> and death threats have come to ilhan omar. >> the context of all of this is, if we had seen this 20 years ago we might have said ug, that's terrible. but this is after january 6th, after the surge in death threats against lawmakers. and that creates a very different context. that's where simply referring it to the ethics committee or taking another traditional route might not feel all that satisfying to the people on the receiving end of those threats. >> congressman, how do you think democrats should handle this, or not at all? >> i think pelosi is playing it very smart. having been chairman of the ethics committee, she's correct that she should refer this matter to the ethics committee. ten members. five democrat, five republican. let them sort this out. this allegation -- this issue of boebert is one where she didn't make a death threat. was a bad joke. islamophobic. greene and gosart said things much more incendiary and they dealt with that appropriately. at this moment, i think that she's got to be starting to think about retaliation. she's probably concerned not all her members think this is a good idea to vote on this right now. get it to the ethics committee. let them make a recommendation. you don't have to bring these right to the floor. go through a process and sort out how you deal with this and other types of incendiary comments. >> there's this other thing with boebert. she's in a back and worth with alexandria ocasio-cortez. boebert, her family photo shows her four sons 8 to 15 holding a gun. this is in response to a different christmas card image that massey put out holding guns. just a couple of days after the horrible shooting in michigan. so aoc responded, tell me again where christ said, quote, use the commemoration of my birth to flex violent weapons for personal political gain? so boebert replied, aoc uses her position as a congresswoman to attack my boys with their christmas presents, not a good look, sandy. first of all, not sure if sandy, exactly, but second of all -- a lot of the american people, you know, they're not going to read about the $780 billion defense bill. they'll look up on twitter and see this back and forth. >> yeah, and i think that is what democrats are afraid of in terms of -- and the white house frankly, taking the focus off of what they are actually trying to do to your point to help people in these really tough times. but the fact of the matter is that, you know, these things do have to be responded to whether it's the ethics committee or anything else. these things should not go unanswered or unpunished, jake. i mean i, as a mother, when i saw that picture, boebert's picture, i felt for her children. you know, i don't think aoc was attacking her children. aoc was attacking republicans' hypocrisy in terms of their whole issue of leftists and progressives going after christmas. that's the point aoc was trying to make. might have gone over bobert's head. would not surprise me. but when she acts like this, when boebert acts like this, marjorie taylor greene, all of them, it focuses on their lack of empathy gene there. and there is no humanity there. there is no civility. and even though for a lot of progressives and a lot of democrats, that is a huge issue in terms of governing that it shows that republicans have no interest whatsoever in actually governing. it's tough to make that an election-time issue. >> i don't know -- it certainly shows that some republicans aren't interested in governing. republican texas congressman dan crenshaw, before a lot of this, said something about this and his colleagues that are provocateurs, to use a nice term for what they are. >> two types of members of congress. performance artists and legislators. performance artists are the ones that get all the attention. the ones you think are more conservative because they know how to say slogans real well. they know how to recite the lines they know that our voters want to hear. >> sounds a little irritated with the marjorie taylor greenes and lauren boeberts of the world. >> he is and he should be. and i am glad he said what he said. because i used to have to deal with this, too. guys like me would be called by the hard right guys, a squish, a rino, a bed wetter, capitulatca. i didn't care. but the guys who really were angry about those types of tactics on the hard right were conservative members like crenshaw who felt a responsibility to govern. and they are in conservative districts and when those guys would agitate conservatives in their districts, they took it personally. and so some of the more conservative members who are not part of the freedom caucus were particularly resentful. and i think crenshaw articulated that very well. >> there should be more like him. >> i was talking to a republican source who said in the past the freedom caucus often stood for things about spending and about economic freedom but now it seems like they are turning into more of a maga caucus more than anything else. so there is some frustration within the republican party on capitol hill with that dynamic that's playing out right now. >> you just had matt gaetz the other day, congressman part of this performance artist caucus, say that when republicans take the house in his view they will, and they certainly have a strong chance of it, he wants donald trump to be the speaker. you don't have to be a member of congress to be the speaker of the house. >> right. yeah, that's been floating around for a little while. i think trump has been asked about it. i can't remember what he said but didn't sound super duper -- >> it's a lot of work that job. >> he could just get the hand off of the gavel from pelosi and resign, right? but, yeah, yes, it is defined, this party is defined by allegiance to donald trump. one of the conversations about when marjorie taylor greene says we're not fringe, we're mainstream, what she's saying is a different version of we are donald trump's party. and that's really -- that's right now the driving force. some ways, 2022 is going to test every single level of the election how true it is. >> but if republicans take back congress, it's 2023 that will also be a test for them because while this is a problem right now for leader mccarthy, this will become a much bigger problem for him if he has to govern and he has to deal with these people. but another republican was telling me today that one thing he may be able to do is distract them by giving them certain committee assignments or telling them to have oversight over the biden administration. in order to take the focus of their efforts off some of the things -- >> winning is easy. governing is hard. >> this is playing out in georgia with purdue getting into the race p. today he told axios he would not have certified the state's 2020 election result if he had been governor. breaking booster news. new studies just released show a third dose of the pfizer vaccine, the beeooster, reduces the chance of death by 90%. that's next. stay with us. i love using rakuten during the holidays, because i can get the sale and i can get cash back. all the stores are having sales, they are doing extra cash back, there's coupons. it's just deals on top of deals. you're stacking your savings. i'm definitely going to use rakuten for my holiday shopping, i got a lot of family, so i might as well get some cash back. it's so easy and the best way to start off the new year. sign up today and get cash back at rakuten.com cha-ching! for rob, it took years to find out why his constipation with belly pain just wouldn't go away. despite all he did to manage his symptoms... day after day. still came the belly pain, discomfort, and bloating, awful feelings he tried not showing. finally with the help of his doctor it came to be, that his symptoms were all signs of ibs-c. and that's why he said yess to adding linzess. linzess is not a laxative. it helps you have more frequent and complete bowel movements, and is proven to help relieve overall abdominal symptoms belly pain, discomfort, and bloating. do not give linzess to children less than two. it may harm them. do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain. especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. other side effects include gas, stomach area pain, and swelling. could your story also be about ibs-c? 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>> you know, i'm not. this backs up the data that israel has been providing to date around the booster. but the more important thing to me, jake is not about the success of the booster but also the success of that primary vaccine series. to me this study is yet another piece of evidence that those folks who are older or immunosuppressed need to get the booster and for the rest of it, it's a really good idea. but the biggest thing that all of us can do is get those first two shots whether it's pfizer or moderna. >> today we also saw pfizer claim that its booster is the best protection gaagainst the omicron variant. only about a quarter of eligible u.s. adults have gotten their booster shot. i have gotten my booster, i should note. are you concerned about what's going to happen as we head into colder months? >> i've gotten my booster as well. all of us as we face the delta surge across the country and omicron hitting our shores it's a good idea. it will protect us from symptomatic infection, if we're younger and from the severe disease and hospitalization and god forbid death if you are older or have other high-risk conditions. you know, this study around omicron, it's a test tube study. it's not a real life one. we're still waiting for more data. for you the preliminary data from south africa suggests the first vaccine doses protect you from what we care most about, which is severe disease. so real easy message which is get the vaccine if you haven't. booster, great idea if you're six months-plus out. >> so the midwest united states has become a hot spot for covid. that's right now primarily the delta variant. in michigan there are more people hospitalized with covid now that at any other point during the pandemic. minnesota, not far behind michigan in terms of new cases per capita. what's going on? what's responsible for this? >> this is all delta variant. this is the same surge that we saw this summer in the south. now hitting the north as people are going indoors. spending time unmasked. dropping all those other precautions, and in those states, a large percentage of people still unvaccinated. in my home state of rhode island, almost all eligible adults are fully vaccinated and so although we are seeing a surge in hospitalizations, it's much smaller than what we saw last year because the only people that are getting admitted for the most part of the unvaccinated, and there aren't as many of them. >> covid hospitalizations in maine are also at record highs. the latest surge is far surpassing earlier waves. how do you explain that? >> so same thing again. it's delta variant hitting people who have not gotten their vaccine. now the lack of a booster for the older folks may be part of the surge but really it is about the unvaccinated for the most part. omicron worries me because we're seeing it hit younger folks, potentially a little harder. most of the u.s. right now is not being affected by omicron in a big way. although we do think there's some community spread. it's almost all that delta variant that we've been battling since this summer. >> dr. ranney, thanks so much. coming up, the joe biden nominee to combat anti-semitism globally has been stalled in congress by a handful of republicans. what's going on? 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[echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ wow... that's so nice! is that a photo of tepechitlan? yeah! the gift of ancestry®, is a walk through your history. do you remember who this is? it's a gift that surprises you, moves you, and bonds you. ...papa? i can see the nose and everything. she was the original strong woman. i know. this holiday, give the gift of family. give the gift of ancestry®. ♪ president biden lags far behind his most recent predecessors when it comes to getting his administration nominees through congress. he has just passed his 300th day in office with only 140 executive branch appointees confirmed. donald trump had 158 nominees in place at the same point. barack obama had 274, almost double. george w. bush had 327 confirmations at his 300-day mark as cnn's jessica dean reports. senate republicans blocking biden administration nominees are now leading to headlines such as this one in the atlantic, quote, republicans are playing partisan politics with america's top anti-semitism post. it's a game that no one is winning, least of all jews. >> we have to stand against resurgence of this tide of anti-semitism. >> reporter: president biden's push to stop hateful anti-jewish rhetoric and actions following a rash of attacks earlier this year is stalled in the senate thanks to some republicans. >> there is nobody more qualified than professor deborah lipsit to special envoy. >> reporter: biden's choice to be the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-semitism has still not had a committee hearing nearly five months after her nomination. democrats say deborah lipstat who servesas emery professor of modern jewish history and holocaust studies is being blocked by several republicans. >> our republican colleagues have refused to give her a hearing before the senate foreign relations committee. >> reporter: as republicans stall jewish groups have urged them to act quickry to confirm her to the post. a rare joint statement from three key groups released november 4th read in part, quote, there is no question that professor lipstat has the credentials to deserve a proper hearing before the committee on foreign relations and that hearing is now overdue. >> this level of agreement about someone on such a contentious issue is rare. >> reporter: this journalist covers anti-semitism for the atlantic. >> it's about a much broader effort to stall biden's nominees and prevent their confirmations. in this case jewish communities abroad are protected by the position and right now that office is short stringed. >> reporter: the top republican on the senate foreign relations committee, senator jim rish said, i wouldn't say we're holding it up adding they're waiting for additional materials from lipstaedt and aides spoke with her. some expressed concerns over some of her tweets. in one from march 14th she called senator ron johnson's comments, quote, white supremacy nationalism, pure and simple. l lipstaedt was reacting to concern he's might have been concerned for his well-being at the january 6th attack had they been affiliated with black lives matter instead of being a largely white pro-trump crowd. johnson, who sits on the foreign relations committee, told cnn, quote, i feel like we have so many nominations floating around right now, i really can't comment at this point. fellow gop committee member senator marco rubio told cnn he couldn't comment. are you supportive of her nomination? >> i'm not sure i've reviewed that nomination. it doesn't ring an immediate bell. >> reporter: democrats insist lipstaedt is a professional in her field and should be confirmed. >> if calling ought anti-semitism is an obstacle to this nomination, that would be an amazing set of circumstances because that's what we want this person to do. >> reporter: menendez is threatening to bypass the committee process and take the nomination straight to the senate floor if republicans keep stalling. what's the line that they would have to cross for you to move to discharge it from the committee? >> well, at a certain point in time, you know, if we continue on a process and all i get is a sense that we are running out the clock by our republican colleagues, then that may force me to do that. >> reporter: and if democrats do move to discharge that nomination and send it to the senate floor, a couple of things could happen, jake. it's very possible that republicans would join with democratss in confirm lipstaedt. if democrats need to move by themselves and vote along party lines they have 50 senators and vice president kamala harris would break that tie. jake? >> jessica dean, thank you so much. we have breaking news now. former trump white house chief of staff mark meadows is suing house speaker nancy pelosi as as well as the house select committee investigating the january 6th attack. according to the complaint, which was filed late this afternoon, meadows is asking a federal court to block enforcement of both the subpoena that the committee issued him and to verizon for his phone records. it comes after the committee chairman signaled they'd pursue a criminal contempt of congress referral against meadows because of his refusal to sit for a deposition in the investigation into the capitol riot. coming up next, an issue that hits close to home for too many americans. congressman ted deutch of florida will join us to talk about the traj overdose death of his nephew. and what more can be done. stay with us. financial picture. with the right balance of risk and reward. so you can enjoy more of...this. this is the planning effect. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider once a month. hiv pills aren't on my mind. i love being able to pick up and go. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems,...and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. ask your doctor about once-monthly cabenuva. serena: it's my 3:10 no-exit-in-sight migraine medicine. it's ubrelvy. for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes, without worrying if it's too late, or where i am. one dose can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within two hours. unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks cgrp protein, believed to be a cause of migraine. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. serena: ask about ubrelvy. the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. in our national lead, america's drug czar opening up today about the nation's worsening drug epidemic. today he spoke wither dr. sanjay gupta about the skyrocketing drug overdose death rate in the united states. >> we have to look at this as an unacceptable number. it's unprecedented. and we must have a response that matches that historic number. in terms of saving lives. >> from april 2020 to april 2021, more than 100,000 americans died of drug overdoses. and three quarters of those were fentanyl deaths. 20-year-old eli winestock is part of this devastating record. in march he died after taking a legal, unregulated herbal drug that was, though he did not know it, laced with fentanyl. his mother, dr. winestock and his uncle congressman ted deutch of florida join us now. and under horrible circumstances, but i do admire taking a tragedy and trying to turn it into something positive. we have some people on our staff that have lost kids to cancer and are trying to be active in trying to help other future kids. so let me start with you. your son eli was a sophomore here in washington at american university when he died. tell us a little bit about eli and what you know of what led to the overdose. >> well, eli was a sophomore at american. and he was doing great. he had a 3.7 gpa. he interned at the spanish education development center here in washington. and he was on his way. he had just joined a fraternity. and the circumstances are rather unclear to us at this point. we know that he had fentanyl in his body when he died. he died suddenly in the shower one night when he was getting ready to go out with some friends. and he was a kid who would never have taken something intentionally that had fentanyl in it. he did not intend to die, just like the 70,000 approximately people who have died from synthetic opioids in the last year. >> he had kradum? what is . >> credum is an opioid, it's a calming substance and i was unaware that eli would have taken credum. it is legal in washington, d.c. >> clearly this issue hits close to home. but are you also a member of congress. sol what are you doing to try to reverse these horrific terrifying overdose numbers? >> well, first of all, jake, we're making sure that people understand that this is an emergency and that it is more likery than not closer to them than know. the fentanyl that comes from china comes across the border from members colorado that's a piece of it. there is a commission that is putting together, a high level secretary of state and others are putting together a strategy that will come out in february. but more than anything else, it's helping people understand what's happening. there are kids who buy what they believe is prescription xanax or aterall, sometimes from friends, sometimes on snapchat, sometimes on tiktok that can be laced with and too sovereign laced with fentanyl and it's deadly. the lethal dose of fentanyl can fit on the tip of a pencil and the dea administrator announced when they announced the seizure of 10 million pills every one of them deadly, that the drug as she put it, the drug dealer is no longer on the corner. it's in your pocket social media companies need to do more as well. >> that's one of the things and one of the reasons why you guys are here to educate people. because there are kids, obviously eli was one of them, who think they are taking something harmless and it's not. one of the bills are you co-sponsoring which is the stop fentanyl act. it only has one republican co-sponsor right now. are people not aware of this? it's not like republicans are in favor of nfentanyl. what is going on? smr that bill is one piece of it. part of it is a destigmatizing opioid, the opioid use addictions and substance abuse disorders. i think you said disorders and substance abuse disorders. but we also need to deal with heart product. we need kids to be educated, so that they're in a position. yes, we have to pass legislation, but we also have to make available and this is something that we're also doing through legislation to try to make available things like fentanyl test strips, so that kids are in a position to take precautions to save their lives. >> tell us about that because i know that's important to you, dr. weinstein. >> yes, so about three months, six months after eli died, we started an organization called birdie light and the purpose of the organization is to get ne front of kid. there sa huge knowledge gap here. kids have tried things. what they're not realizing now, the stuff they used to try more than likely have fentanyl in it. wii when i get in front of kid, i find out they don't know this. for example, we went to groups in american and back in ohio where we live. we said, how many of you know that cocaine can have fentanyl in it? and only two out of three knew that information. so 30% of kids don't know that cocaine can have fentanyl in it. it's the same numbers for the pills that ted mentioned. the fake xanax, the fake ater all. the methamphetamine, fake oxycodones. kids don't know this. neither to parents. when we surveyed parents, their numbers are worse. they are completely unaware the pills they can fet from their friend in the dorm can be laced with fentanyl. >> hopefully they are watching this now and they can tell people. we will continue to tell you guys to spread the word especially think they will go to the birdie light website. >> what is it? >> birdie light.org. eli green is right in the middle of it. >> god bless, hopefully, his memory will be a blessing. our hearts go out to you. thank you so much for being here today. >> thanks. coming up, skjames brown said t cia was spying on him. we'll bring you the response next. >> this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a 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. . to our viewers in the united states and around the world, we have breaking news. say it loud, that song from the godfather of soul james brown may have led the cio to put him up to date surveillance. it's our pop culture lead today. brown made the claim he was being spied on multiple times in his life, according to a letter to president nixon in 1992, shortly before his death as well. domestic spying is something the cia is strictly forbidden from doing. curiously, the cia recently responded to that accusation in a lawsuit brought by cnn saying that disclosing whether the cia had records on brown could quote cause serious damage to u.s. national security. sure it could. as the old sailing goes, just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. our coverage continues now with wolf blitzer in "the situation room." [ music playing ] happening now, breaking news, former trump white house chief of staff mark meadows just sued the january 6th select committee and house speaker nancy pelosi as the panel is now moving to hold him in criminal contempt of congress. key member standing by to join us live. also tonight, president biden doubles down on his threat of severe sequences if russia invades ukraine, saying he warned vladimir putin the punishment would be quote like none he's ever seen.