north carolina himself is the first former lawmaker to be held in contempt, criminal contempt of congress in nearly 200 years. just before last night's vote, the panel unveiled more alarming text messages sent to meadows, including a text from a currently sitting lawmaker as yet unidentified, revealing that lawmakers in the white house discussed plans to overturn the election as soon as the day after november 3rd, election day. we'll have more on that in a moment. here is congresswoman liz cheney. >> some of those text messages, madam speaker, came from members in the chamber right now. members who understood that a violent assault was under way at the capitol. members who pleaded with the chief of staff to get the president to take action. mark, one member said, he needs to stop this now. in all caps. tell them to go home. potus has to come out firmly and tell the protesters to dissipate. someone is going to get killed. >> also this hour, president biden departing for kentucky to survey damage. he'll meet with victims in the wake of the deadly tornado outbreak that devastated the area over the weekend. first we want to get to paula reed. let's look at where we stand this morning. the doj now weighing this contempt charge for mark meadows. the big question is how quickly could they act. >> it is a great question. but this case is a lot more difficult than the one they have brought against another trump ally, steve bannon, who completely refused to engage with the committee at all and defied his subpoena. meadows, he did for a time engage with the committee, he handed over thousands of pages of documents before suddenly ceasing cooperation and insisting he could not come in and answer questions because of executive privilege. the committee argues that clearly you didn't think all of the materials you already handed over were protected by privilege. so come in, and at least answer questions about you what shared with us. if you think there is a privilege issue you can raise it to that specific question. it has been interesting to watch the committee over the past three days become a lot more gresi aggressive about sharing what it is they learned from meadows and what they want to ask him about. last night before the vote, they shared more text messages to and from meadows including one on november 4th, you referenced earlier. this is from a lawmaker to meadows. it says, quote, here san aggressive strategy. why can't the states of georgia, north carolina, pennsylvania, and other republican-controlled state houses declare this is bs, where conflicts and election were not called that night and just send their own electors to vote and have it go to skcotus. they're trying to lay out a plan, a blueprint for how to undermine the outcome of the election. this is a blueprint that is being used forward looking at other upcoming elections and how to undermine those as well. the committee also revealed another text message, suggesting the secretive nature of some of meadows communications and instructing the recipient to move the conversation to the encrypted app signal. that's a real problem because you have one of the most powerful men in washington, the chief of staff, taking his conversations with a lawmaker to encrypted app so there is no record. going forward there are a lot of questions for the committee about when or if they will name the lawmakers in these conversations. committee chairman says they'll think about that in the coming weeks. >> so meadows is not providing testimony. others are. some that we don't know -- know about yet. what are we learning from other testimony and other progress the committee is making in its investigation? >> that's right. they have been stone walled by a few key trump allies. they talked to over 300 witnesses and more continue to come in. for example, just yesterday, the committee heard from former vice president mike pence's one time national security adviser keith kellogg and his attorney told cnn that, look, he's not raising executive privilege and he will cooperate with the committee. they also heard yesterday from dustin stockton, one of the organizers of rallies on the 5th and the 6th. they'll also talk to stockton's girlfriend jennifer lawrence, not that one, and, again, they have other people they are engaging with and postpone those interviews to continue to work with them to try to come up with some way to have them cooperate. >> so much more to go and yet so interesting what is already there. thank you. with us, senior cnn legal analyst laura coates and scott jennings, former special assistant to george w. bush. good to have you with us this morning. let's pick up on where we stand this morning in terms of mark meadows. referred to the justice department based on what we saw with steve bannon, i guess the question is more can we take anything away from what we saw with steve bannon on how that was handled and what we can expect moving forward with mark meadows? >> remember, there was a long process in terms of getting to the point where the department of justice actually put him before a grand jury in the sense of the case before a grand jury. they were largely contemplating what was going to come after that, how many people were going to copycat the steve bannon approach. i would assume their contemplative state of mind is going to expedite the future discussions including one right now. but oddly enough, steve bannon, of course, and mark meadows are in very different positions. steve bannon never having been part of the administration since 2017. counter that to mark meadows, chief of staff, for the president of the united states. mark meadows had a much stronger, more valid claim about the assertion of privilege. the trick here though is he's already provided documents when it comes to content that has nothing to do with executive privilege. and for that too he has refused to actually abide by and comply with the subpoena. so he's made a more difficult case for himself to be able to say that the privilege will attach to everything, and he's made it easier case for the department of justice who probably thought, look, for the institution of the presidency, we know there will be instances you want to have the candid conversations with top advisers, the chief of staff, mark meadows has taken that ammunition that he once had away. >> scott jennings, there is more evidence as you see these texts, communications revealed, that a plan to overturn, to reject the results of elections in several states being discussed from the day after the election. by the way, just to remind folks on january 6th, the night of the assault on the capitol, two-thirds of sitting lawmakers voted to decertify one or another or two states' electors. should the gop be policing its own on this, members of the party, sitting lawmakers who took part in this attempt? and should they in your view face consequences? >> well, i mean, ultimately members of congress like all elected officials face consequences from voters, right? you go home and talk to your constituents about what you did and they ask you questions and they were enter a judgment on you every two or six years in the case of senators. i think in some cases people will face questions from their own constituents and to be honest politically some of these people represent districts that probably approve of what they did. that's a stark reality of this. >> is that right, scott? approve of them attempting to overturn the election? are you satisfied with that as a long serving republican, who i should note for the viewers, recognize the results of the elections as some lawmakers did not? >> no, as you know, i -- that very day on these very airwaves i saw this for what it was and still see for what it was. it is obvious what happened. a mob was whipped up, they were sent into a frenzy, went to the capitol, and they thought they had the power to intimidate, threaten or worse people into changing the outcome of the election. that's what they thought. and they were whipped into this frenzy by people -- we all know who did it and we all know who is responsible. there is no real mystery here about what happened. but, yes, i mean, if you look at the polling and the attitude of some of the republicans out there about this, they think some people they think it was justified, some think it is overblown. you've seen all the things that people say about it. none of this is correct. and i think at some point the party is going to have to reckon with it. i don't think frankly this is going to work politically for the democrats in the midterm. but the next presidential election if donald trump runs again and asks the country for mantle of leadership again, he has to talk about the fact that he quite -- in my opinion, quite likely violated his oath of office the last time he held the office. that will be a reckoning moment for the party at that point. >> interesting to see if he would actually answer that question. and whether it will be answered with facts. laura, before we let you go what was fascinating to me is watching liz cheney over the course of the last two days, right. you as a former federal prosecutor, she was so clear in her language, as we talked about. she was reading from a criminal code, she was making a case, but it wasn't just a case about mark meadows. the case she was making. she was very clearly talking about the former president. how effective do you think she was? >> extremely effective. she was also talking about other people who were within those very chambers. the idea of saying there are sitting members not identifying who were the sources of these texts, alluding to the fact there was more, this was a clear indication for anyone who believes that the january select committee may have been criticized for this is somehow singularly focused on just one individual, as if everyone was just following the orders of one, she essentially made the case that there were far more many people who were complicit, complicit in some form or fashion, or contributing to the aftermath. just as much as we saw on january 7th, from members of congress, who are really concerned about being able to trust one another, congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez spoke about this, they were concerned about who had whipped up the frenzied mob. you see that more clearly, those concerns are actually valid, there are people among them who under the guise of leadership were actively involved in trying to undermine the election, a fair and free one. so i think she made a very, very compelling case, and it is up to the department of justice, of course, to actually prosecute matters though. >> laura coates, thanks so much. and scott jennings as well. folk ms may not know you're comg to us from kentucky, because your hometown devastated by the tornadoes. you lost a lot of memories, no relatives. we want to say we're sending our thoughts and our prayers to you and your family. >> thank you. dawson springs is getting a visit from president joe biden today. and looking for any hope they can find. but it is a rough scene down there and i appreciate everybody who has brought attention to it. there is still ways to have offer relief if you want to help. i have a piece on cnn.com today about it and there is a list on there about how you can be part of the relief effort if you're so inclined. thanks to everyone around the world who has done that. >> we'll tweet the links out again today. thanks, scott. new this morning, congress has averted a potentially catastrophic u.s. default, hours before the deadline. both the senate and house passed a resolution that increases the debt limit by $2.5 trillion and extends it until 2023. up next, president biden is expected to quickly sign it. lauren fox live on capitol hill. lauren, senator manchin part of the issue here. what has to happen now for bbb? is it not going to happen in 2021? >> reporter: there is still a winding road ahead, and in fact the president just addressed this a few minutes ago. our jeremy diamond asked him what the prospects for build back better before christmas were. he said there had been some progress, but it was going to be close. essentially it is going to be cutting it very close to get this done before christmas. and that is in part because of senator joe manchin and what he expressed to the president in terms of his concerns with the scope and cost of this bill. there is also concern, however, about just getting the logistics done. this bill is not finalized yet. we should underscore that to people back home. they are still haggling over key provisions over taxes, over prescription drugs, over some energy provisions, those discussions are still very much under way. and there is still a technical process to go through with the senate parliamentarian to make sure this bill complies with specific senate budget rules that allow them to pass this bill with just democratic votes. that process is still under way. i spoke to someone this morning who said they are still trudging along. it is unclear if they can finish that by the end of this week. so a lot of work left to do. they are still not clear if they will be able to get it done before christmas or not. jim and erica? >> we will be watching. lauren fox, appreciate it, thank you. right now, president biden en route to kentucky to see the devastation from the deadly tornadoes firsthand. we'll be joined but a city councilwoman from mayfield, kentucky. we'll talk more about what they need to recover this morning. >> the pictures from there. plus, we are expecting the first set of data from u.s. researchers today on the omicron variant. details on how well vaccines may hold up against it. and moments ago, new york got its first ever female police commissioner. hear how she plans to tackle violent crime as the new head of the nypd. because you're forever connected by love... two touching center diamonds, representing the connection you share. forever connected. the perfect gift to give this holiday. exclusively at kay. it's the most joyous time of the year. especially at t-mobile! let's go to dianne. i got the awesome new iphone 13 pro and airpods, and t-mobile is paying for them both! and this is for new and existing customers. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on us. only at t-mobile. you're a one-man stitchwork master. but your staffing plan needs to go up a size. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire 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. ♪ limu emu... & doug ♪ ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? 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(gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th feel stuck with student loan debt? move to sofi and feel what it's like to get your money right. ♪ ♪ move your student loan debt to sofi— you could save with low rates and no fees. earn a $1,000 bonus when you refi— and get your money right. ♪ live pictures now from joint base andrews. that is marine one, president biden arriving there on his way to visit the tornado-ravaged areas of kentucky. he spoke earlier, discussing among other things prospects for passing build back better before the end of the year. there is the president, walking to air force one. we'll bring you the comments when we have them. this morning we expect to see our first hard data on vaccine efficacy against the omicron variant from the national institutes of health. as we wait, there are new details about how the moderna vaccine holds up against the delta strain of the virus. >> cnn's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joining us now with more. so, what is this study telling us about moderna and delta? >> erica, really it tells us sort of a very much along the lines of what we have been hearing, which is that the vaccines do have a waning efficacy against delta, but that they still performed quite well. let's take a look at this study that was published in the british medical journal. what they found is that for up to two months after vaccination, that moderna was 94.1% effective against infection. that's a stunning number. vaccines are rarely that effective. and five to six months, 80% effective, still a really great vaccine. and against hospital admission it was 97.5% effective. now, one note on that last number, they didn't say what time frame that was. and so it is hard to know was that two months after, six months after, but $97.5 is a terrific number. this study was on the delta variant. it did not include omicron and so for omicron what we're looking at from what we know so far is a highly transmissible variant. let's take a look at something that dr. rochelle walensky said yesterday. the rates are doubling, the rates of omicron are doubling every two days in some countries. let's look at what it looks like in the united states. if you look at the week ending december 4th, .4% were christmas, the week ending december 11th, that's 2.9%. that's doubling. that's a huge leap. we'll see if that continues. certainly dr. anthony fauci said he anticipates omicron will become the dominant variant in the u.s. erica, jim? >> and maybe more quickly than we imagined. elizabeth cohen, thank you very much. joining me to discuss is dr. william schaffner, professor in the division of infectious diseases at vanderbilt university medical scepter. g center. good to have you back. we're looking at these events from cornell university and are we seeing a canary in the coal mine there? they're reporting a high percentage of cases the omicron variant in people who were fully vaccinated. based on what we're seeing now, are we seeing early signs that omicron is already here, in numbers, but do we know if it is just more transmissible, but perhaps less severe? or we don't know yet? >> well, we certainly know it is more transmissible, jim. that's true all around the world as rochelle walensky said yesterday. in a semienclosed population, look a university with all the students together 24/7, it can spread very rapidly. now, let us note it is producing very mild and even asymptomatic infections in a highly vaccinated group. the vaccine is still doing its job at keeping people out of the hospital. >> so let me ask you this question. i know there is still more to be learned and by the way we have this nih data coming out in the next hour. is closing schools, cornell's understandable response has been to go online as we saw so much last year, is closing schools, places of business, benching professional athletes as you see outbreaks on nfl teams, is that necessary in your view if it proves to be causing less severe illness or do we need to learn to live with these outbreaks? >> i think the answer is both of those things. we're going to try to curtail the spread of omicron very seriously and at the same time we're trying to educate people that we're going to have to live with covid. there will be further variants down the road, and we may have to adjust what it is that we're doing along the way, depending upon the seriousness of the threat. and we're still assessing exactly the seriousness of the threat of omicron and in the beginning, we're more conservative rather than casual. so at the moment, those things -- those closed down orders seem to be in good -- seem to be wise. >> one consistent piece of data in recent weeks is that, yes, vaccine efficacy is falling as these new variants come out. but that a booster restores a lot of that. and yet today, just about 41% of fully vaccinated adults here in this country over the age of 50, right, a more vulnerable group, have so far received booster. that's less than half. are we getting booster shots into arms quickly enough to keep people out of the hospital as omicron comes? >> well, obviously not as quickly as we in public health would like. 41% of people over age 50 in the entire united states, that's already achievement, but we have to keep surging with vaccinations in order to get up as high as we would like. we would like 90% of people eligible for boosters vaccinated. never mind all those folks who still haven't gotten their first dose, and, remember, we have to bring children in to be vaccinated as well. >> folks, listen to the doctors. get the booster shots. dr. william schaffner, thank you so much. >> thank you, jim. still ahead, president biden making his way to western kentucky this hour where he will see the devastation firsthand. as of this morning, more than 100 people are still missing, five days after those tornadoes ravaged the area. we are live in a town with some of the most critical needs. we'll take you to mayfield next. >> hundreds still missing. and the opening bell on wall street, just moments away. futures are mixed this morning. the federal reserve wrapping up its two-day policy meeting today. fed chair jerome powell set to give highly anticipated remarks 2:30 this afternoon. investors looking to see what the fed's decision will be with regards to interest rates. also, how it views inflation. all that has wall street waiting and watching. we'll continue to follow and bring you the latest. sales are down from last quarter, but we're hoping things will pick up by q3. yeah... uhhh... doug? 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[ inaudible ] >> president biden there, answering a couple of questions from reporters before leaving for kentucky. you could hear he was asked about mark meadows there. he said he hadn't seen all of the texts, but from what he saw he thought he should be held in contempt. he's ready to tour the extensive damage from the deadly tornadoes over the weekend which hit a number of states, with so much focus on this area of western kentucky, the town of mayfield. we talked about how the president is expected to be briefed at ft. campbell before he heads to some hard hit areas. mayfield and dawson springs among them. >> they do truly look like war zones there. overnight, new details about what happened at that decimated candle factory in mayfield, kentucky, that is now at the center of what has become a state investigation. cnn correspondent brian todd is in mayfield. what are you hearing from survivors of that factory, you spoke to one, what story do they tell? >> reporter: right, jim. we spoke to two employees at that candle factory who told us just ahead of the tornadoes on friday night when they were getting the warnings about the tornadoes approaching that employees approached at least one supervisor there and asked if they could leave ahead of time for their own safety. one of those employees, eelijah johnson went on camera with us and here's what he had to say. >> i said, man, you're going to refuse to let us leave even if the weather is this bad? and the tornado is not even here yet? he was, like, if you want to decide to leave, you can leave, but you're going to be terminated, you're going to be fired. >> reporter: now, we spoke to a spokesperson for the company who denied that that took place. the spokesperson said that they talked to team leaders and supervisors from that evening, and the supervisors said that nobody was told that they would be fired if they left. this spokesperson said that employees of the company were free to come and go as they pleased and that some people actually did leave that night. so that situation not resolved. and as you mentioned, the kentucky state board of labor and other entities of the kentucky state government are investigating this situation. meanwhile, today, the pace of cleanup and salvage here is really accelerating. you see the shovels here cleaning up this area of broadway street in mayfield. over here, these gentlemen were just salvaging over here, trying to salvage anything from a store that was here. they found a bunch of duck decoys and tossed them out here so somebody might be able to come and get them. i have to say, the pace of this salvage operation and the excavation here is really faster than anything we have seen in almost any tornado zone. they're really moving along, but we did talk to the leader of one of the excavation teams who said it is going to take probably one to two months to clear all of this out from the streets of mayfield. 'sd just one spot. >> yeah. and years to rebuild. >> yeah. >> brian todd, appreciate the reporting as always. thank you. janet adams is a city council member in mayfield. good to have you with us this morning. just picking up where brian left off there, the allegation that he heard from that gentleman who was working in the candle factory overnight, which the company spokesperson denied, we know there are state investigations, is this something that the city council will be looking into? >> no, ma'am. not that i know of. of course, our hearts and our thoughts and prayers go out to anyone and everyone that had someone in the candle factory. i just can't even imagine what the families are going through and we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers. >> there are in terms of families and what they're dealing with this morning more than 100 people missing at this point. how are some of those families holding up? are they getting everything that they need in terms of support? >> erica, what we're focusing on right now is the fairgrounds and the airport have supplies for families, we're working on some housing issues, we're working on getting families their much needed items, especially for babies, you know, diapers, bottles, formula, that type of thing. we're just working on so many different things right now, so many different groups, a lot of churches are pitching in and helping families, sheltering them and so forth. so -- and i think there are some counselors at different places set up for families that lost people. so -- >> it is -- if there was one positive here, right, it is what we have seen in terms of community outreach. both there on the ground and folks from around the country who do want to help in any way they can. as we look at what lies ahead, you're talking about the shelter situation, we know housing is a major concern. also power. i was surprised, i guess, when i saw last night that the state emergency management director said that power in mayfield, a town of about 10,000, i believe, could take weeks or even months to rebuild. it is winter. how do you handle that? what is the plan for the next couple of months potentially if there is no power in town? >> right. i'm actually on the board of mayfield electric and water and we have been meeting daily and getting updates. we are a tva facility, tennessee valley authority, so tva has been here along with fema and other groups. we have utility representatives from all over the southeast. we are working on getting our transmission lines hooked up that will transmit power from tva into mayfield. hopefully we'll have those set up in seven to ten days. there are a little pockets of places in mayfield that are actually getting power back now. we're working on it as fast as we can. we have some stations that are down. so we're having to, like i said, reroute some of the electricity coming in, and when we get things rebuilt we will be able to do that. we're having to replace, i don't even know how many poles, and lines and we have line men from all over the country here going out in the field and, you know, setting poles and running lines for us. so, you know, hopefully it will be sooner than later. >> yeah. hopefully is right. it is massive when you think about all of the immediate needs at once. it is -- you know, in any disaster i think you look around and think where do i even begin is one of the hardest parts. i know you grew up in alabama, you said you grew up dodging tornadoes. this is not something that anybody expected overnight in kentucky, in december. >> right. >> has the city council talked yet about perhaps other ways of notification or maybe what needs to change moving forward for folks in town? >> actually we have a really good notification system in place from our local news station that is about 25 miles away. our phones, everybody that has that on their phones will get notifications, just every few minutes. and we do have the weather warning sirens up in several places in town and they certainly were going off on friday night. and, you know, we were just hoping that folks had enough time and we felt like people had enough time to hopefully get somewhere safe, you know. like i said, our hearts and prayers go out to the ones that weren't able to do that. >> jana adams, thank you for taking the time. we know you have a long road ahead. we hope you stay in touch and keep us updated on the progress. >> thank you. coming up next, historic hire in new york city. hear from first woman ever selected to run the new york police department. >> chief sewell's appointment today is a powerful message to girls and young women across the city, there is no ceiling to your ambition. ♪"you are the reason" by calum scott♪ to all the kisses... ...that led... ...to this one. celebrate every kiss, with kay. ♪ ♪ cases of anxiety in young adults are rising as experts warn of the effects on well-being caused by the pandemic. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ at intra-cellular therapies, we're inspired by our circle. a circle that includes our researchers, driven by our award-winning science, who uncover new medicines to treat mental illness. it includes the compassionate healthcare professionals, the dedicated social workers, and the supportive peer counselors we work with to help improve - and even change - people's lives. moving from mental illness to mental wellness starts in our circle. this is intra-cellular therapies. what happens if you ever need to miss work for a long period of time? 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big meeting this afternoon, waiting for federal reserve chair jerome powell to give a policy update later today. he's expected to announce a dramatic shift that would clear the way for the first interest rate hike in the new year. >> the fed is also set to assure people that there is no reason to panic about rising prices. this despite growing and understandable concerns over inflation. people are seeing them. cnn chief business correspondent christine romans is covering. the fed has a couple of tools here, right. one is buying all the bonds and they already started to taper that. the other is the strong one, right, straight up raise rates. >> they have been buying the bonds because they were flooding the economy with stimulus after the pandemic, right. they were trying to prevent a coronavirus recession from becoming a depression. now, the timing is all different now. now inflation is the story. the fed is shifting into inflation fighting mode. that means it is going to probably wind down that taper faster. not going to be putting all the stimulus into the economy. then it has to start taking the stimulus out of the economy by raising interest rates sometime next year th. this is a big deal. for months the fed was saying it was transitory. look at the numbers. you see the sticker shock for so many things that americans are are buying. now, granted that's compared with last year, when the whole economy fell apart, right? but now it is not apart. it is moving very quickly, the economy is strong. here is the fed chief on november 30th signaling the strong economy and rising inflation. listen. >> at this point the economy is very strong, and inflationary pressures are high and it is therefore appropriate in my view to consider wrapping up the taper of our asset purchases, when we announced at the november meeting, perhaps a few months sooner. >> the worry here is that all that stimulus from the fed may actually make the economy overheat, right, and that's what you're seeing in those inflation numbers. a reminder for you all, if we're talking about raising interest rates next year, that affects everyone. it affects the stock market, it affects business owners, it affects you. those are what -- those are borrowing costs for your credit cards, auto loans, home mortgages. i would say if you are trying to refinance a home loan, you know, i would wrap that up, folks. we're going to hear from the fed today that higher interest rates are coming. and kind of really a hard job here, really historic moment, they have to get a hold of inflation, but not jar the economy into another recession. that's a fine line to walk. fine line to walk. >> delicate balance. >> totally new phase here. up next, dramatic plans from german anti-vaccination group to assassinate a state governor. that plan thwarted by german police. the threats though continue. we'll take you live to berlin next. it's the you are my diamond sale. get 25% off everything. ♪ this is how we shine... at zales. the diamond store. ...so at at&t everyone gets our best deals. aren't others doing that? 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>> hi, erica. it's pretty troubling. the group organized by the messaging app telegram. there was already a german television investigative magazine that had found out about this plot but the police then investigated further and found out members of this group were bragging about wanting to assassinate the state governor of the state of saxny and other members of that government as well. and we're also talking about the fact they were allegedly armed. now we have had these searches going on in that area since the early hours of this morning. we've been in touch with the police. they have already recovered parts of weapons as they put it. they believe all this could have been assembled into weapons that may have been used to kill the governor of the state of saxony. now he himself has already come out and he has said that he's obviously appalled by all of this and is calling on the state to be tough on these people and all this comes as you see this anti-vaxing conspiracy movement against the measures against the coronavirus really radicalize here. the german chancellor olaf schulz went in a speech earlier today and called this a tiny unhinged minority that wants to destabilize germany. all this comes on the same day that across germany, packages were received by politicians and media organizations containing raw meat and threatening letters saying the meat was toxic and packages like that would continue to come if measures against the coronavirus stayed in place and mandatory vaccinations became a reality in germany as well. really troubling signs here in this country and certainly something that has politicians here extremely alarmed, guys. >> alarming for sure and clearly law enforcement there taking it seriously. fred pleitgen, thanks so much. russia's president looks forward to meeting with his chinese counterpart in person at the beijing olympics. vladimir putin and xi jinping spoke virtually a few hours ago. the kremlin said they both rejected any attempts to politicize sports. sounds like a dig at the u.s. and australia for announcing a diplomatic boycott of next year's games. putin aide called the 90-minute meeting very positive. china state tv described the relationship as a model of state-to-state coordination in the 21st century. >> cozying up, china and russia. still ahead, as the committee invest gaiting january 6th decides whether to reveal which gop lawmakers texted mark meadows during the insurrection, among those interested in getting the names, republican leader mitch mcconnell. it's the you are my diamond sale. get 25% off everything. ♪ this is how we shine... at zales. the diamond store. we envisioned at times that we would lose one of our facilities. breaking news. but we never envisioned even in a pandemic that we might lose them all. our engineers and operations team worked with cisco to do whatever's necessary and bring 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. hi sabrina! hi jen! hi. so you're the scientist here. i just have to ask. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? 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a number of them sent by currently unidentified sitting lawmakers which reveal a plan to overturn the election, joe biden's win.