congress proceedings against this man. former trump doj official. jeffrey clark. he refuses to answer questioning about the attempts to use the doj to push the big lie. a senate judiciary report, clark was instrumental in that effort. a contempt referral would make him the second person after steve bannon to potentially face criminal charges for defying congressional investigators. one member of the house leadership says the committee has no choice but to move against witnesses. who themselves refuse to cooperate. >> you have to use every tool we can to get to the truth. there has to be a consequence. to the failure to follow the law. >> the committee has yet to announce action against former trump chief of staff. for that matter. mark meadows who failed to comply. however one of the two republicans serving on the panel predicts he may not have to wait long to find out where the members stand. >> i expect there is going to be movement particularly on mark meadows that we'll know about shortly. in the next day or two. or so. this committee is going to get to answers. we'll do what we need to do. we're not going to rush anything. we'll make sure we're not allowing trump and his folks to drag this out to get to the end of this congress. we are going to get this done. >> and back to steve bannon. he's charged with two counts of contempt of congress. for denying his subpoena. now the feds are accusing him of trying to turn his trial into a media circus. imagine that. they are asking a judge to prevent him from making public and exploiting documents that he gets from the justice department during the trial. bannon has based his refusal to cooperate with the investigation on trumps misleading legal claim that executive privilege somehow prevents the release of white house records. trump is fighting a ruling that would force him to turn over the records to the committee. tomorrow, the federal appeals court in the case will hear arguments from both sides. aside from the inquiry the next few weeks will be critical for the house and senate. democrats are under pressure to pass biden's social policy bill. schumer said he wants to get it to the president by christmas. federal agencies run out of the money at midnight this friday. and the treasury secretary warns the nations borrowing limit has to be raised by december 15. if that's not enough, it appears we're entering a new phase of the pandemic. with the emergence of the fast moving omicron variant. first identified in south africa. several days ago. cases have been seen in several nations since. nothing in this country yet. the president today stressed the u.s. is tracking the new variant and will be prepared for a potential out break. >> this variant is a cause for concern. not a cause for pan pick. panic. we have more tools today to fight the variant than ever before. vaccines to boosters. and thursday i'll be putting forward a detail strategy out lining how we're going to fight covid this winter. not with shut downs or lock downs. with more widespread vaccinations, boosters and testing and more. >> the white house did move to impose travel restrictions for non-u.s. citizens from eight nations in southern africa. biden said the move will help slow the spread of the variant. as we mention, cdc tonight strengthening the booster recommendation saying all adults should get them. and pfizer reportedly plans to ask the fda to authorize its booster shots for 16 and 17 year-olds. we'll have more on the new variant later in the hour. there are two other stories that make our radar tonight. this was day one in the federal criminal trial of maxwell. she's accused of under age girls for sex offender jeffrey epstein. who you'll recall died in prison. two years ago. while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. and on wednesday, the u.s. supreme court will hear oral arguments in a closely watched case involving a mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks. this case is being seen by many as a direct challenge to roe vs. wade. during an interesting time when the talk on the antiabortion political right is all about body automy. where vaccines and masks are concerned. with that let's bring in our starting line for a monday night. white house correspondent for the pbs news hour. moderator of washington week. also on pbs. "washington post." coauthor of the "new york times" best seller i alone can fix it. and chuck a justice department veteran. former u.s. attorney. and former senior fbi official. good evening and welcome to you all. i'd like to begin with you and that building you cover for a living. let's talk about the white house responding to this variant. amid- cat calls from republicans especially on social media. that biden failed to stop the pandemic. some of the same people calling the pandemic a hoax. in earlier times. so, amid lt noise and distractions. the administration has to do what they see fit. >> that's right. president biden said today essentially that his administration is focussed on this variant. it doesn't want people to panic. but making contingency plans if a vaccine is needed. and ban travel from south africa as well as a number of other countries. now of course the backlash of that has been the southern countries including the president of south africa and number of african scientists said this is really the biden administration and wealthy nations like europe and the united states punishing african-american countries for finding this variant. and developing the science. of course the biden administration pushed back on that. i was pressing the press secretary today there have been a number of people who said this is not the right move. but the president is standing firm. saying it's the best way to protect americans on the point of the gop. it's ironic to hear republicans who have called the pandemic at one point a hoax. down played the need to be vaccinated. to now turn around and try to fight the president. also in some ways is on brand for republicans. they have been successful in really politicizing the pandemic. and really getting a lot of people energized to support the republican party. a lot of times spreading false information about the vaccine. and the pandemic in mass. >> phil, let's go back to tonight's other story. that is the committee action remind us by dent of your reporting, for your books and for the daily journalism in the "washington post," remind us who jeffrey clark is and what his potential exposure is. >> yeah. jeffrey clark is not exactly a household name. he's not steven bannon. somebody we have been hearing a lot about the last four years. he was a very influential figure in the final months of the administration. he was a senior official at the justice department. who was in contact directly with president trump in the months following the election. talking about the so called big lie. about trumps election fraud lie. and he actually was taking measures to try to pressure state legislators in georgia to delay certification of the joe biden's win. in that state. part of a broader scheme, with then president trump and other trump allies, to effectively subvert the election results. to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power and keep trump in power. he was an official at the justice department who was seen as someone who could take over as the acting attorney general. if there were an effort to oust then acting attorney general jeffrey rosen. that of course didn't come to fruition. this is these are many of the reasons why the january 6 committee in congress wants to question jeffrey clark and wants to have access to the documents they have subpoenaed from him. clark lawyers maintain that clark had nothing to do with the events of january 6. they have said in a statement to the committee that clark was not actually at the justice department. that day. because he stayed home to avoid the traffic problems. and tried to present their client as somebody who is not worth questioning because he just doesn't know anything about the attack on the capitol. but it's very clear the committee is interested in clark for what he knew in the days leading up to the attack on the capitol. and for his direct personal communication with the president trump. >> next over to chuck. let's talk about this committee and the levers at their disposal. they can pull. the engaged left let's call it, to use a steve bannon phrase, one heads on pikes. they want to see action and they want it yesterday. here is former senator on our net work today. not sounding bullish. on the ability of the committee to get this done in a timely fashion. >> i think we maybe watching the slow moving but inevitable destruction of the ability of congress to do meaningful oversight. why message the department o justice is get on it. do not act like feds here. act like state prosecutors. go fast. if they don't get moving, this is all about running out ot clock. and i say to the january 6 committee and doj. get going, guys. quit stalling and treading. go. >> so counsellor, when a former senator talks like that it's bound to get attention. take on her point in chief. and to your knowledge, are there levers open to them that they are not pulling for those people who want to see consequences? >> well, congress doesn't have all of the authority that congress might like to have. for instance, it can't prosecute anyone for anything, ever. that power that authority to prosecute resides fully within the executive branch. not the legislative branch. so senator is making a good point about the fact that some of the witnesses want to run out the clock. i don't completely agree with her. that the feds are slow rolling this. or have to act like state prosecutors. maybe i'm just defensive. because i was a fed. before you charge somebody, you better make sure you have everything you need to convict that person. that's required of us as federal prosecutors. ascertaining we have a reasonable probability of conviction. so, if congress sends a referral to the department of justice, it ought to look at it closely. it ought to determine what evidence it has. what's relevant and admissible. the department of justice didn't take a long time deciding about steve bannon's case. it was several week. that seems appropriate. before you charge somebody with a federal crime, you ought to make sure you can prove they committed a federal crime. so, two points, congress doesn't have the authority it hopes to have. because it can't prosecute anyone for anything. it has to refer it. and the department of justice ought to make careful principled deliberative decisions about who gets charged and who doesn't. >> perhaps the senator should be a guest on your upcoming pod cast. the oath. democrats worry about things like the optics of a democratic white house going after the inner circle of the previous president. is it enough that given democratic worries the white house can lay all of that off on the committee and say, not seen here, not our concern. we got a country to run. >> in some ways i think it helps td biden administration. when i talked to white house officials you get the sense that they really want to be seen as being about the business of the american people. we're in the middle of a pandemic with a new variant. there's inflation. paying more for gas and food. there's a government shut down looming. infrastructure. when it comes to talking about the january 6 investigation and what happened there, in some ways the president has been very clear he thinks it's a very serious thing. it's why you have seen him wave executive privilege for the initial documents that are requested by the lawmakers. they really can say congress will handle that. we're so focussed on the other things. i think democrats i get the sense politically that democrats want to be able to say we can walk and chew gum at the same time. we have a president passing historic bills and healthcare and things done. at the same time we're looking at this sort of amazing terrible day on january 6. where our american democracy was almost brought to its knees. that's equally as important. and also needs to be looked at and we're not letting it go. >> phil, do you have any intell on other road trips the president has planned both to emphasize what's coming on infrastructure and help pressure senators on the social spending bill. that's part one. and part two, is anyone in that white house really expecting to see the president signature on this spending bill the the joe manchin act between now and christmas. >> well, brian, the president would certainly like that to be able to sign that piece of paper. it would be a christmas gift to his agenda and his political fortune. the president is planning to be in minnesota this week. and we can expect i would imagine to see additional domestic travel between now and christmas. he has a lot of pressures right now converging on him as she mentioned, the economy and inflation. it's a huge concern. it's something that a lot of american families are feeling. right now. especially with the holiday approaching and biden has a political imperative to get out in front of that and show leadership and show he's thinking about how much the average family is spendsing on gas. and food and everything else. first and foremost. so there's an optics issue here if it appears the white house is focussed too much on this spending bill and not enough on the daily pressures that people are facing at the supermarket and gas station, he could pay a political price for that. there's certainly a lot of candles burning late at night at the white house. so to speak. to try to get manchin and cinema on board with this measure. remember, this is the bill that passed the house shortly before thanksgiving. it was a big deal. it is now in the senate where it's being held up. senate leader schumer promised to try to bring it to the floor and get that vote before christmas. it's likely of course the senate could change the bill. we have to go to a conference committee. it's unclear exactly what the changes might be. and this is a really messy and complicated negotiation that we have seen play out for months. it would take a lot for it to come to completion in the few weeks between now and christmas. >> chuck, let's back up. one more question about the work of the one six committee. specifically this side matter between trump the committee and the national archives. is it possible for us to say that all claims of executive privilege that aren't in the realm of national security, these claims that cover potential president's phone log, text messages and the like. from one six. is that all outside the bounds of a privilege claim? >> very likely so. for a simple reason. president trump is actually former president trump. the supreme court said in a 1977 opinion that former presidents might have some residual executive privilege. the way we determine that is asking the current president, joe biden, whether he's going to honor it. if a current president is not honoring or support the former president's claim of executive privilege, it really doesn't exist. so, i understand why president trump is litigating it. as senator said earlier. they'd like to run out the clock. i get the strategy. but as a legal matter, there really is no privilege left for a former president. and so all those types of documents you mentioned really are not privilege. i imagine at the end of the day the dc court of appeals hearing argument tomorrow is going to sustain the lower court judge. and find there is no privilege. the documents have to be turn td over to the committee. >> great thanks to our starting line on the first night of the new week. coming up after the first break, this will be a long week leading up to a long december. for democrats in congress as we mention. can they get everything done that they want? we'll ask our political experts what happens if they don't. later the new variant of interest dominates the weekend conversation. we'll ask a doctor how concerned we all need to be. all of it as the "the 11th hour" is just getting under way on this monday night. we look at the white house decorated for the first christmas for this first family. christmas for this first family. . 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>> they are under immense pressure. i'm not even going to guess at the percentage. let's project what they should get done. 100% of it. they have to do basic things like fund the government and raise the debt limit and fund whatever other essential budgets. that has to be done as well as the build back better act. this is what democrats have promised to voters. the same voters who turned out in mass during the pandemic. to give them the house, the senate and the white house. in 2020. this is what they have to deliver on. honestly failure at this point isn't an option. especially when your only barrier is other democrats. there's no way to turn that around to voters in district or states going into the midterm. they absolutely must deliver. voters are looking at democrats like, you promised us this for years and years. you promised that you'll protect democracy. promise that you'll protect voting rights and protect reproductive rights. create a path way to citizen ship for immigrants as well as help us prepare and help us take care of our families, ore elders and children. what gives? these are the same voters that democrats are going to be relying onto turn out heavily in 2022. the heat is on right now. they absolutely have to deliver. we know any type of in fighting the polls showman chin and cinema is bringing the entire democratic party down. especially with biden's approval numbers. voters are over it. they want democrats to deliver on the agenda they have been promising for years. >> bill, that nicely gets us right back to the messaging conversation. the three of us have had a lot. what good is a deliverable if you don't tell the customer what's being delivered to their home. their town, their state. their country. >> the trouble with legislation. one aspect isn't delivered for a year or two or three. or delivered indirectly in ways that could help the country. i have a slight different view. they obviously need to keep the government open. and raise the debt limit. and i think they're not going to get anything else done. i care a lot about the democracy legislation. the election legislation. there's no evidence that is moving this month. i care about immigration. i personally think the biden administration should have done more on that. there's no evidence that is moving. maybe build back better. what do people have urgency about? omicron. i don't know where people have been over the last three days. every conversation from uber drivers to friends and politics to relatives. it's been about omicron. if biden can show real leadership on this and get ahead. on testing and make clear there will be money for new vaccines if necessary. and willing to make the fda or push the fda to go faster over the roadblocks. spending $100 million on vaccines and testing would be received by the american public. than whatever $100 billion in the build back better legislation. i guess i would say the other stuff won't happen anyway in the next few weeks. you have to do debt limit. and keep the government open. and focus 100% on covid. >> i think indeed i had an omicron digital watch at 1970. i will agree with you that it drove a lot of conversation. over the past four days. in america. and there is little to know appetite whatsoever for another top to bottom shut down. look at the time. i have a quote for you here. with the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed in to law, democratic lawmakers and party leaders say biden needs to relentlessly hammer gop lawmakers for a opposing his economic priorities. and hampering progress on the pandemic and inflation. so, serious question to you, given hell joe is not the joe biden we know. it's not the joe biden that ran for president. so, how can he channel the has been dasher from kansas city by going give em hell? >> it's two prongs. he should absolutely hold republicans accountable. call them out in his own way. he has done it in the past. name and shame as much as it comes out that republicans are taking credit for what democrats deliver on their own. or largely on their own. and make sure to name that. as it happens. that's something that biden has done in the first year so far. and he can do that. i think the other side that biden is going to need to do is to highlight the positive impacts here. that is what i think he needs to continue to do every time he's out on the trail. every time his cabinet members are out. every time vice president harris is out. lay out their positive solutions. because we also know republicans offer none of those. drawing that contrast isn't hard. i think that biden should fully be in power to do it in his own way and rely on other campaign committees. the dnc or to to do the additional dirty work. in the political messaging game we know and love. biden should stay true to himself, hold republicans accountable and also set it up and deliver his positive message. and the impact that his legislation is having. >> both of our friends have agreed to stay with us. he's among the more outrageous people ever to serve in the leadership of the house. so, how does he deal with his more outrageous members? s more outrageous members? 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[ coughing and sneezing ] cold season is back. bounce back fast with alka seltzer plus. with 25% more concentrated power. alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh, what a relief it is ♪ so fast! also try for cough, mucus & congestion. he would be months before the omicron variant is ready to ship in massive quantity. we might decide on the one hand to stop giving a higher dose of a current vaccine around the world to better protect people. >> of the development process. we can make multiple times. we would be able to have a vaccine in less than 100 days. >> two important ceos there. vaccine makers now have to tinker with weapons in the face of a new incoming threat. but what should we all do and what can we all do about this? we're happy and fortunate to have back with us tonight. doctor gupta. advised on public health throughout this. and on faculty at the university of washington institute for health metrics. and evaluation. doctor, let's start by me playing for you another doctor named dr. fauci. from tonight on this net work. we'll discuss his comments on the other side. >> we need to know if impractical purposes that that spells out to a really high degree of transmissibility and whether or not when it does infect someone, whether it causes severe disease. and those things we'll know in about a couple of weeks. a week and a half. two weeks at the most three weeks. >> so, doctor, the important questions for you tonight. how should this if alt all effect our behavior moving around the world tonight, tomorrow, the next day. how worried should we be based on the thin evidence available so far? >> good evening, to layer onto dr. fauci. the reason and this comes from a pulmoologist. while you get vaccinated against a contagious respiratory virus, is to keep you out of the hospital. for your family, for my family. all the viewers out there and themselves. the reason we encourage a flu shot is not to keep you from testing positive. but keep you out of the hospital. it's well worn. flu shots against a contagious virus will not prevent mild symptoms. or testing positive. it will keep you away from seeing me. same thing now, as we battle this current variant. as a sigma or variant arises sometime late in 2022. it's inevitable. we need to have clarity on what we're aiming for. vaccines to keep you out of the hospital. no vaccine against a contagious respiratory virus, coronavirus or something we battled in the past, something we're bound to battle in the future. that will prevent you from testing positive or developing mild symptoms. which is why be vigilant. enjoy the holidays. mask. get a booster shot. we have the luxury of that. and go about your business. >> i listened with great interest to your comments with nicole wallace this afternoon. and you pointed out with such great clarity. we need to declare this regimen is three shots. so all the public places that demand proof of vaccination, you and i are not alone in saying wait a minute, what really does that mean now? and i'll ask that question. and when we're all probably headed for our fourth. >> well, it's your point. definitions matter. i cannot tell you how many people, organizations, lean on the cdc and the link that was last updated on october 15, viewers can check it out. google c.d.c. fully vaccinated definition. updated on october 15. says that you are fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of the vaccine. in most cases. that needs to be updated. if you need a third dose and the setting of the new variant to prevent you from seeing somebody like me. update the definition. those who are unvaccinated that are reachable are asking how does it make sense? i thought i needed two. what about three. if this initial series is intended to keep us away from the hospital, that initial series like the hepatitis series when we were younger. requires three shots. that's okay. we're learning as we're going. we have to update it to maintain consistency and sort of a logical train of thought. so people with understand and follow along. >> i'm just a layperson here. i'm certainly going on the sujs that somewhere tonight somewhere this past weekend, somebody landed at jfk, lax, c tack. and they got the variant. that it's here. it just hasn't popped up in a measurable way. perhaps a hole in the testing. is that your assumption? >> absolutely. this variant is already here in the united states. we have to operate urnds that assumption. need to let go of the travel bans they are punitive. they send the wrong message. the early signals. we have south africa. the netherlands. we have the plane go from johannesburg to amsterdam. we know among those testing positive with this variant are that they either have mild symptoms. if they are fully vaccinated or a symptomatic. wait a few weeks to feel confident. it seem like the vaccines are holding up. that emphasizes the initial point. the purpose of vaccination against a contagious respiratory virus be it omicron now or whatever down the road. it's to keep you out of the hospital. >> can't thank you enough for taking the time to take our questions. your viewers find your answers valuable. we remain grateful for your insight. as this pandemic it seems marchs on. coming up for us. attention holiday shoppers. your biggest fear doesn't have to be the supply chain shortages. how about a dozen guys in black hoods laying waste to the store you are shopping in. ying wasteo you are shopping in. with ancestrydna®, inspired us to learn more about our culture and where we come from. ...here? 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comparing plans? oh yeah. they sure can change year to year. i found lower premiums and lower prescription costs. that'll save you money. so uh, mark? on medicare.gov now. open enrollment ends december 7th use the plan finder at medicare.gov to compare medicare health and prescription plans. comparing plans really pays. paid for by the u.s. department of health & human services last they think before we go tonight. that last story we aired just before the break about the recent spate of smash and grab robberies, while they are isolated they are also violent and brazen. they are getting a lot of coverage for good reason. and think about the effect on our country. fearing for your safety in a mall or a store. especially over the holiday. and on top of everything else there is to fear like the number of guns in our society. and this weeks latest covid strain. over time trends like this and stories like these make us feel bad about our country. and that is where the russians come in. for little or no money, using a net work of robots and sympathizers. the russians are super-agitators. giving a boost to whatever story or trends make us feel bad. from the rittenhouse verdict. to gang robberies at an apple store in new york. or l.a. their goal is anything that drives us apart. anything to turn american against american. and that is where ted cruz comes in. the headline and the bull work reads as follows. meet the texas movement brought to you by russia. article starts off this way. couple week ago senator ted cruz was speaking when someone asked his thoughts on the texas su session movement. he replied he wasn't there yet. it is important to understand that the modern succession movement is not a product of lone star pride. it's an idea force fed into the american conservative movement by russia. one of the kremlins active measures campaign. promote fringe and hope they break something. this may not sound like much of a plan. it sometimes works. putin has been openly building his portfolio of whack os for a while. and they have begun breaking things. perhaps you're old enough to remember a time when a u.s. senator, any and all u.s. senators would dismiss any talk of succession as crazy and fringe. and something a few southerners tried some years back that didn't end well. back when we called them the soviets. the idea of the russians tinkering with our american society, say nothing of interfering and in our presidential elections and breaking down the post war atlantic alliance. that was abhorrent 50 years ago. but grievance politics, social media and the cheap anonymity. gaslighting and frog boiling. so few are left alive who fought in a world war. add all that up and suddenly fewer people see democracy as worth fighting for. it's part of the slow death of both truth and consequences. and that thanks to at-home for joining us this, our really happy to have you here at this monday night hoping at a good holiday weekend. as of tonight, midnight tonight on the eastern most island in the caribbean, this older woman. you might recognize. will no longer be the head of state. as of the stroke of midnight tonight, queen