house visit -- visitor records, call logs of trump and pence. what kind of information could be in those records that the former president doesn't want the committee to see? >> well, i think it will show two things. number one, it probably shows that there was some level of planning that was involved in the insurrection that happened on january 6th. it wasn't just a random chance that a bunch of, you know, losers with, you know, bear mace happened to show up on january 6th. and also, shows probably the same time that the president and his people were trying to cover up the aftereffects of that or -- or trying to -- which we kind of seeing now -- were trying to delay the deployment of forces to actually, you know, rescue the members of congress from -- from the lynchmobs that were out there. >> yeah. so let's talk about "the

let's go to chief white house correspondent, kaitlan collins. what is the administration doing to track down the variant to see if it is already in the u.s. >> they're trying to figure out if it is here. they have not detected it yet, that's the latest from the cdc director when she briefed reporters. they're trying to find the variant. they haven't found it yet. officials say if it is not here yet, it will be soon, given how fast it is spreading. you're seeing 20 countries and counting now identifying the variant in their nation. the cdc director said as part of that effort, wolf, they're in daily contact with labs across the united states. likely it could be one of those that find the variant and alert the cdc after that. on top of that, they're ramping up surveillance of airports. that's where a lot of travelers from international communities are coming through, international travelers as well. four major airports across the united states, they're ramping up surveillance. san francisco, jfk, newark and atlanta. in addition to that, they're co

so the white house says they want to try to use this time wisely. the time they believe the travel restrictions for instance that they put in place are buying them. and we should also note just in, wolf, there are new developments in the u.s. about what's going on in the fight against covid-19 overall. not just related to the omicron variant. advisers to the fda have voted 13-10 to get an emergency authorization of that new anti-covid pill that's being made by merck. of course, this is something that still has to go to the fda and if they make a decision based on this recommendation from these advisers. this is something not just concerning to the scientists working on this but also look at stocks today. you saw them tumbling. the dow was down several points -- several hundred points because there are concerns about what this variant means for the united states in addition to those comments from the fed chair earlier today saying they can no longer really call inflation transitory. >> the dow down another 650 points just today. thank you very much.

if the white house came to you and said, here, mr. chairman, write this speech that you think delivers the best message to help you keep the majority in the house, what would it be? >> well, the reason i said free joe biden is that i think joe biden has the voice of the working and middle class families like the ones so many of us grew up in. he understands what it's like for a family to struggle to live the american dream if your country has the back. i want him to be the messenger and so my plan would be get the president out there. put him with hard hats on the factory floor. i love it when he's behind the wheel of a pickup truck or talking to families out there making ends meet. that's the voice of working middle class people that he's the heart and soul of the democratic agenda. we are accomplishing real things that will create jobs, grow our economy, end this pandemic and move us forward as one country again. and i want the president out there communicating with the american public. >> earlier this month i spoke with congressman

this is one part of a plan the white house covid response team detailed today to fight this highly mutated variant. scientists are racing to determine if the current vaccines protect against this variant and if it spreads more easily. experts hope to have answers in about a week. in the meantime, markets continue to be rattled and the travel bans continue to multiply. >> more than 70 countries now including the u.s. have issued travel bans against southern african nations. omicron was first detected in south africa, and now has been confirmed in 20 countries. still not the u.s. though. and the cdc director says the u.s. now has far more tools today to fight variants than this time last year. >> compared to earlier this year when we were sequencing about 8,000 samples per week, we have increased our genomic sequencing capability, and we are now sequencing approximately 80,000 samples per week, about one in every seven pcr positive cases and that's more than any other country. >> our correspondents are following omicron's impact around the world. >> i'm frederik pleitgen in berlin, as german

the white house covid response team says the u.s. has far more tools today to fight variants than this time last year and is urging everyone eligible to get a booster. >> so, when we say that although these mutations suggest a diminution of protection and a degree of immune evasion, you still, from experience that we have with delta, can make a reasonable conclusion that you would not eliminate all protection against this particular variant. and that's the reason why we don't know what that degree of diminution of protection is going to be, but we know that when you boost somebody, you elevate your level of protection very high, and we are hoping, and i think with good reason, to feel good that there will be some degree of protection. >> cnn international correspondent david mckenzie is tracking the many developments for us from south africa. what's happening there, david? >> reporter: alisyn, there is lots that is unknown about the virus, but here in south africa, they're very concerned about those many mutations and despite all the

the white house covid response team says the u.s. has far more tools today to fight variants than this time last year and is urging everyone eligible to get a booster. >> so, when we say that although

is it the current occupant of the white house or the former? >> this is a key ruling we're waiting for now, laura, after the hearing and the arguments because if the d.c. appeals court says trump has no privilege or certainly has no blanket privilege, he might argument about this document or that document, then what right does any other witness have to say a then i have a privilege? >> absolutely. she's exactly right, the judge, to talk about the idea what it actually comes down to. remember, the executive privilege is not belonging to the incumbent. it's the person in the presidency. the former president can no longer veto, no longer the commander in team and their powers are limited even with regards to privilege asergsz so this judge on the three-judge panel know exactly the issue here. remember, there are going to be instances, john, where the assertion of the privilege might be more valid than others, but a blanket assertion that says you can't have any document even when there's an exception here which is valid, a potential criminal act,

cnn's jeremy diamond is live at the white house with more on this. jeremy, what are you hearing from there today about all of it? because so much is still unknown. >> reporter: listen, coronavirus is right back at the center of activity here at the west wing of the white house. we know officials are working to put together the finishing touches on that strategy that we're expected to hear president biden outline on thursday for how the united states is going to fight the coronavirus this winter. listen to the president talking about that yesterday. >> thursday i'll be putting forward a detailed strategy outlining how we're going to fight covid this winter, not with shutdowns or lockdowns, but with more widespread vaccinations, boosters, testing, and more. >> reporter: you hear the president there emphasizing the fact that he is not looking to do additional shutdowns or lockdowns. instead, it will be doubling down on what we've seen from this administration so far. vaccinations, boosters, testing. we heard the president talk about that yesterday. even

we'll bring you updates from that testimony as it happens. >>> let's begin at the white house. cnn correspondent john harwood is there. interesting message, balanced message from biden yesterday. we're concerned, let's not panic, no plannings for lockdowns, and get your booster shot. what is the administration's plan going forward? >> reporter: as you both indicated, the critical factor to keep in mind right now is what we don't know, but also the market turbulence that erica alluded to just now is an indication of how interrelated all these issues are. that is to say the more uncertainty there is about the omicron variant, the more uncertainty about the persistence of the pandemic and the severity of the pandemic, the more uncertain the economic recovery is going to be, the tempering of inflation is going to be. all of the knock-on effects of this pandemic are -- have a big question mark over them now because of this omicron variant. what the president is saying is let's look at what we know. what we know is that vaccination and boosters is the most important intervention that

the white house is planning more extensive guidance as they learn more on thursday. >> obviously this could have an impact on the markets. we'll keep a close watch on them this morning. dow futures down sharply ahead of the opening bell. jerome powell will testify about the new threats the variant poses to the u.s. economy. athena jones and jeremy diamond are covering this for us this morning. athena, let's begin with you. pfizer ceo also looking to tamp down concerns about this variant. what are we hearing from him? >> that's right. the big question here, all of the questions we have about the variant, how strong is it, how transmissible is it, how severe is the illness that it leads to or less severe. and one of the big questions is whether the existing vaccines work well on them. this is pfizer's ceo albert burla. take a listen. >> i'm concerned. but not panicked. we have been preparing for a moment like that for the last few months. i think we are now really very well prepared to win this battle. we can find ourselves perfectly fine and we're perfecting as high as -- but we're hav

. >> and we also heard the white house press secretary say that south africa's turned down additional vaccine doses from the u.s. what's your reaction to that? >> well, like all countries, south africa continues to vaccinate its population. our people are queueing up for vaccination. and we do not see this as significant hesitancy. that some people are talking about. but what we see is progress with our vaccination program. now, again, like in all countries, it is possible that you know you will have some -- a small minority of people who are hesitant against vaccines. we see that in all countries for that matter. but -- >> you say there's -- you're saying that there's not hesitancy, but we see the vaxx rate is pretty low. and the u.s. has a long way to go, ambassador, i acknowledge that. but do you need more hesitancy? >> certainly -- we do need more vaccines for sure. that's not a question. we need more vaccines in south africa and in the rest of the african continent. for that matter, we have already started collaborating with johnson & johnson and with pfizer so that we can finish

we've been engaged with the white house over the weekend. we feel encouraged by the president's comments yesterday and reinforced this morning, that we expect not to see any more travel restrictions. i think what we really see with this current one is it is a slippery slope. we have really robust protocols in place. you know, air travel is safe. you have to have a vaccine and a negative pcr test to come into the u.s. we think that that is the appropriate way to assess an individual's risk and not preventing a wholesale country from coming to the u.s. >> what dr. fauci and the u.s. says is this temporary ban on the south african nations is to buy some time. why aren't you persuaded by that? >> absolutely understand the concern there. but as we've seen, as we just heard from the doctor, if you are vaccinated, the symptoms are very, you know, insignificant, really. you're feeling that malaise. quite frankly, we think, again, it should be the individual risk assessment. if you're vaccinated, which is required to come into the u.s., and you're ta

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how worried is this white house? >> reporter: well, look, the president is trying to reassure americans that they want to stay vigilant in the face of this potential new threat, but not to panic as we just heard from him just now. and yesterday when he spoke, he spoke after meeting with his medical officials, medical advisers, including dr. fauci being briefed. he said they are learning more and more about the variant every day, every hour, but there was still a lot that was unknown, including the transmissibility and the severity and, of course, that could take weeks for them to find out. but the president was really firm in saying that folks need to get their vaccines because it's only a matter of time until a case pops up in the u.s. he said they need to get their vaccines and get their boosters. and after he spoke, the cdc even updated their guidance saying that if you have had their vaccine before june 1st, it is now time for a booster. if you are 18 years plus. but the president was asked about the potential of

it is a position that is also held by the biden white house. ryan nobles, cnn, on capitol hill. >>> federal prosecutors have indicted three alleged u.s. capitol rioters including one who is accused of assaulting a police officer. they are accused of planning violence on january 6th, communicating under the name patriots 45 maga gang. meantime, the justice department has released new video from the day of the insurrection. it shows several police officers running down a flight of stairs in the capitol as chairs are being hurled at them by rioters. >>> a feud between congresswoman ilhan omar and laurenne boebert is getting uglier. on monday the two lawmakers had a tense phone call that ended after omar hung up on boebert. remember, their feud escalated after a recent video surfaced online with boebert making bigoted antimuslim remarks suggesting omar had been mistaken for a terrorist. take a look. >> and i see a capitol police officer running hurriedly to the elevator. i see threats all over his face and he is reaching -- the door is shutting. i

they have to turn over the records from the white house. tomorrow the appeals court will hear the former president's case. so what do you expect there? >> yeah. so this is a key step in this collection of information that the january 6th committee is hoping to do. they're looking for hundreds, maybe thousands of pieces of documents from the trump white house in and around january 6th. and this is an appeal of a lower court ruling in which the court said that the national archives can hand that information over to the select committee. but trump and his legal team immediately appealed that decision. this will be a three-judge panel that will hear this case. two of these judges are obama appointees. the other one is a biden appointee, so it's not a very good draw in terms of the former president and his hopes. and one of these judges actually already ruled in a case relating to executive privilege in don mcgahn and wrote a very harsh opinion as it relates to executive privilege and what the trump white house believed it had at that time. and

congressman ronny jackson, remember, he was -- let me remind you he's a doctor for the former white house physician for the former guy, he is tweeting this. this is what he tweeted. here come the mev, the midterm election variant. they need a reason to push unsolicited nationwide mail in ballots. democrats will do anything to cheat during an election but we're not going to let them. again, a doctor trying to turn this variant into just another opportunity to push the big lie and focus the election fraud. he's not the only one. >> you can count on a variant about every october, every two years. >> okay. so obviously, not only is that a lie, it literally makes no sense. a new and concerning variant is not going to help democrats at the ballot box. a variant that came to light in southern africa for you geography nerds out there is not in the united states so just to be absolutely clear, right, just to be absolutely clear, this new variant is not some kind of diabolical plot by democrats. so let's review. republicans had nothing to say when they pushed lies and deadly misinformation about co

house. and now, he's a member of congress just, i guess he feels even freer to -- to do this kind of thing. um, how does the president now -- president biden -- try to effectively manage concerns about this variant in a nonpolitical way? i mean, do you think supporters of the former president believe anything the administration says at this point? >> we have enough to worry about without getting distracted by this kind of nonsense. um, and, you know, it -- the most dangerous thing is that state legislatures and governors -- mostly -- almost entirely in republican states have passed 100 laws that prohibit states from enacting common sense public health measures, like asking people to wear masks when they go inside buildings. those hundred laws are things that, um, in the light of day and in the light of omicron, people should take down and say, oops, we should not be restricting our ability to save people's lives. i think president biden said it well today when he said this is the reason for

house, these groups that were working outside of the white house, the trump campaign, these other groups stopped steal, other organizations that could perhaps build this case of a coordinated effort to try to drum up all of this angst across the country related to the election that then served as the precursor to what p happened on january 6th. clark did show up to be interviewed by the january 6th select committee but once in the room he doesn't answer questions. he couldn't because of executive privilege and attorney client privilege, a lot of legal experts believe those claims probably don't have a lot of merit. the committee is taking the step and will move quickly with a business meeting. it could be voted on the house floor as soon as thursday and will be in the hands of the department of justice. >> i want to ask you moving this forward more because we're waiting to hear ryan from the national archives and have to turnover the records from the white house. tomorrow the appeals court will hear the former president's case so what do you expect there? >> yes, so this is a key step in

and i think the white house is starting to realize they need to start doing a better job telling their story. >> speaking of that. i heard you agreeing with him saying uh-huh but we talked about ronny jackson. what about ron desantis. he's an example to protect floridians with another lockdown. to be clear, president biden is saying lockdowns are off the table for now. and, you know, his strategy for this winter doesn't include shut downs or lockdowns, just more politics. >> no. of course it is. he'll protect people in florida for something from something that isn't going to happen. but it's one of the rules, the unfortunate rules of modern politics in this arena in which we live right now which is if you have somebody like governor desantis say something like that enough, people who are listening will start to believe it and potentially believe that the president is considering lockdowns, which he said explicitly today when asked at the white house the answer is no. things could change but that is in nobody's interest because we are at the point where unless this variant or another va

she is live at the white house for us. kaitlan, what more is the administration doing or trying to do at this point? >> well, kate, what it comes to a messaging standpoint, you are seeing president biden come out and say, hey, i am going to urge a sense of calm here but i also want people to pay attention. and that's why today, when you saw the president come out, they don't know a lot more of the specifics than really what is publicly known, already. and so, the steps they are taking in the meanwhile is telling people who have not yet gotten vaccinated to do so and telling those who have not yet gotten their booster shots to also do so. because the president was highlighting the discrepancy today between those who have actually gotten the vaccine and those who have gotten the booster shot. and so, you see the cdc making that key change in the language tonight. it seems like a small change. but it is significant. saying that those who are 18 and older, instead of could get the vaccine booster, that they should get the vacc

meanwhile, questions remain about former white house chief of staff mark meadows. the committee has threatened to seek criminal contempt charges against him as well but have yet to take that step. >> i think we will probably make a decision this week on our course of conduct with that particular witness. >> reporter: what that decision is remains an open question. but the committee has not ruled out any option. >> this was an assault on a peaceful transfer of power and we do need to hear from these individuals and we'll use every means necessary to compel them to speak to the committee. >> reporter: in this battle over the access of information there will be a key court hearing tomorrow. the committee going up against the former president donald trump and his lawyers at the appellate level as donald trump attempts to appeal a lower court ruling that would allow thousands of documents from the trump white house to go into the hands of the committee. trump and his legal team arguing it should be protected under executive privilege. the committee is arguing they need

house, and i think it really lies at the white house now because this extends beyond dod to multiple agencies and departments. the white house can simply come down and say, look, if it's classified, let secretary esper know. allow him to review it. i retain my clear arnss. if not, then remove the redactions and allow him to move forward and publish this book as written. >> might you just do what john bolton did and just publish it and let the chips fall where they may knowing government suits like this when they are as weak as you describe this one, ultimately fail? >> well, i could, but, look, i want to do it the right way, set the proper example. i followed the process diligently for six months. i've engaged with them formally and informally and the next step has been the lawsuit step. that said, i would say the white house can come in, step in and say allow it to move forward and go from there. we'll see what happens. we'll take this one day at a time. i think it's important the american people understand their history, our history and what it means because i've wrote this memoir

biden hosting a group of ceos at the white house to discuss ways to make sure shelves are fully stocked and prices are reasonable as holiday shopping ramps up. earlier today the president addressing the new coronavirus variant now named omicron saying this new strain first detected in south africa is, quote, cause for concern, not a cause for panic. promising new lockdowns are off the table, at least for now. cnn's kaitlan collins reports president biden is planning to address both of these issues again in a few days including laying out a plan for the u.s. to fight the coronavirus pandemic as we head into winter. >> this variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. >> reporter: president biden reassuring the nation after a new coronavirus variant set off global alarms. >> i'm sparing no effort and removing all road blocks to keep the american people safe. >> reporter: biden restricting travel from south africa and seven neighboring nations which he warned will slow the spread of omicron but won't stop it. >> here's what it does. it gives us time. gives us time to take more ac

we begin with cnn's phil mattingly at the white house. the president said shut downs are off the table for now? >> for now. shut downs off the table. instead, the white house is focused on vaccinations and boosters. that will be the core along with testing. the president is supposed to lay out a plan about fighting the pandemic as the country moves into the winter months, and obviously that plan royaled by the discovery of this new variant. it's a variant that has caused serious concern inside the white house, and the president during the course of the day, remarks earlier and a moment ago, meeting executives on the supply chain saying this is about speed and science, not chaos and confusion, and that is the core of how the white house is trying to fight and address this new variant. when it comes to boosters and vaccinations, that is the primary focus of what white house officials are pressing on at this moment. they believe this moment in time that boosters will provide at least some protection to what they're seeing from this new varia

of course the white house press secretary jen psaki was just talking about the lessons they learned from the delta variant which was very contagious over the summer so the president will be speaking again on thursday to the nation to talk about what they want to do for this winter when it comes to concerns over the spread then. the president said right now that does not include any more restrictions or lockdowns but instead focused on boosters and testing. and one thing we should know about the travel restrictions that are going to place today, the president defended it saying that it does buy the u.s. more time, not a lot but enough for scientists they look to evaluate how much of a threat this new variant does pose to the united states. >> so let's talk about the travel restrictions, nick. the united states travel ban against the eight southern african nations have been in effect overnight. what is it like. >> for one passenger it is a nightmare and this is prior to the travel restrictions going into eskts. so you could only imagine what kind of disruption it is having for the passenge

jeffrey clark worked for the executive branch but quite a bit removed in the white house. so merrick garland will have a decision here. it is one thing to charge someone in the executive branch. there is an interesting distinction there, perhaps. >> do you think merrick garland will move forward very quickly? >> i think he has to. i think he already has set the sort of playbook by the way he went about the bannon case. so i would look for a decision within a couple of weeks at most. >> eli honig and carrie cordero, thank you. i'll be back here tomorrow at 1:00. the news continues right now with alisyn and victor. >>> hello, i'm victor blackwell, good to be with you. >> and i'm alisyn camerota. the world is waiting for answers about omicron. we know very little other than it was detected in south africa. it is a highly mutated variant that appears to spread easily and could have some vaccine resistance. but scientists say it will be a few more weeks before there is data to confirm that. >> this variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. and we'll fight this vari

let's get straight to the white house and our chief white house correspondent kaitlan clipsch we'll hear from the president any second. >> the white house gave a two-minute warning. he will provide an update after he got his own update from the covid-19 team this morning, the third up date he's gotten thon new omicron variant, of course, amend the concerns over it and exactly what you laid out there hand what they don't know. don't expect the president to come out and say a lot of specifics. you heard from dr. anthony fauci saying it's going to be a week at best, maybe two weeks before they know more about this, so what you'll likely see the president come out and do based on what we've heard from officials is come out and urge a sense of caution, a sense of awareness as we're waiting on the details and this also comes as the president is going to be speaking the day the new travel restrictions the u.s.cismenting for south africa and seven of its neighboring countries that's going to be going into effect. that's something that the president could also speak about, what was behind that de

our eyes are on the white house. "inside politics" with john king begins right now. >> hello, everybody and welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king in washington. a very busy news day. a very busy hour away. a wait-and-see moment in the covid pandemic. any minute now the president of the united states addresses the nation and details what we know and don't know about the new omicron variants. scientists caution against panic. it will take weeks, they say, before they know if the world again is in big trouble. >> we're on high alert. the cdc who does that kind of surveillance is very, very on top of this, looking for this. there are a lot of things about it that we do not know but that we'll be able to be ascertained in the next week or two i believe. >>> plus, a character crossroads for republicans. path number one, show remorse, move on from an ugly episode of bigotry. path number two, double down on islamophobia and decision time with the january 6th committee. will the former white house chief of staff be hit

john harwood is at the white house. nick valencia is at hartsfield-jackson atlanta international airport. john, we know the president will be receiving a briefing from the covid-19 response team. we're set to hear from the president in the next hour. what are we expecting him to say? >> reporter: i think what we expect, erica, is a variant of what he said yesterday after he got his initial briefing on omicron, which is that above all else, this is a cue to the american people who have not been vaccinated to get vaccinated and those who have not gotten their booster shot to get booster shots. for all the unknowns about omicron, how transmissible and serious it is, if you get it, how resistant you are, if you had covid-19 or boosters, everyone agrees that the more vaccination that you've had, the better off you're going to be. what we heard from the president yesterday before the briefing that he's going to get this morning was that he as a precaution limited travel to south africa and a number of other countries in south

let's begin at the white house, jeremy diamond on the north lawn. president biden expected to speak in a few hours. do we know what his message will be? >> reporter: we expect president biden to address the american people after receiving his latest briefing on this omicron variant. president biden is expected to urge americans not to mpanic an he will make clear we'll learn more in the coming weeks. in the meantime what you will hear from president biden is making his latest plea for americans who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated, and for those who have gotten vaccinated and are eligible for a booster, meaning all americans six months after pfizer, moderna or two months after the johnson & johnson to get that booster. that is the best protection the president and his medical advisers say can be used now. president biden received a briefing yesterday as well on the variant, this is a statement that the white house released following that meeting. dr. fauci informed the president while it will take approximately two more weeks to have more de

, cnn's kate bennett live at the white house. kate, what is it? >> the theme is gifts from the heart, john, and this year, jill biden wanted to reflect unity, the things that bring us together, lots of the trees had nods to first responders, front line workers, families, basically giving thanks for the things that she feels the pandemic has taken away, things people need to remember. jill biden is going to thank the volunteers, the hundred or so volunteers who came to decorate the white house later this afternoon in person. basically felt like more subdued white house holiday decoration than in years past. of course we are coming out of this pandemic, we hope and the bidens wanted to reflect that thankfulness they're feeling, the gratitude. there will be no controversial red trees, let's put it that way. there's nothing in the decorations that's going to really cause a massive amount of conversation, but jill biden was very much involved. she picked the theme, she picked some of the ornaments. she decided she wanted to hang stock

anthony fauci and other members of the white house covid team and releasing this photo in a statement that reads, dr. fauci informed the president while it will take two more weeks to have more definitive information on the transmissibility, severity, and other characteristics of the variant, he continues to believe that existing vaccines are likely to provide a degree of protection against severe case of covid. want to bring in chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. sanjay, i went home from work thursday, it didn't exist. by thus night, the fears had really taken over the world. so what do we know? >> yeah. there are several things that we do know about this. and this is all very recent. and there are several things we don't know. let me talk about what we already know. we have been tracking this for just a little bit of time now. first of all, it was first described in botswana. and this was back on november 9th. that was the first sample that was collected at the time on november 9th. so, again, just two or three weeks here that we're talking about. it's now been detected in

anthony fauci and the white house covid team releasing this photo saying this. dr. fauci informed the president while it will take two more weeks to have more definitive information on the transmissibility, severity and other characteristics of the variant, he continues to believe existing vaccines are likely to provide a degree of infection against severe cases of covid-19. president biden will provide an update on the variant later this morning. but it does feel very much like the planet is hitting the pause button. we are tapping into the global sources of cnn from around the globe. >> reporter: south african president has voiced his disappointment at the travel bans that have been implemented saying it is skrtkreupl that to. it was applied during the hiv/aids epidemic. now they have a target point despite the fact that omicron has been identified in various part of the world. >> reporter: i'm hadas gold in jerusalem. with two confirmed case of the omicron variant, israel is closing its borders for two weeks. and no matter where you are coming from, you will need

the white house said dr. fauci told the president that it would take two weeks to have more definitive information on the transmissibility, severity and other characteristics of the variant. in lieu of that information, laura, the best thing dr. fauci said is for americans to double down on getting those vaccines. we heard from the doctor say those same things. get the initial vaccines and get the boosters if they are eligible because that is a way officials see americans getting out of this pandemic, no matter what the variant may be. it is true that right now the white house is staring down this messaging challenge as they really try to project severity of the issue but also try to project reassuring americans that they are able to take care of them so we will see. the president today really showing up for that messaging challenge trying to convey all of those things, trying to show americans that his administration is ready. laura? >> it's a delicate balance. clearly the history of delta looms large for th

now here at the white house speaking with others among others dr. anthony fauci. the statement from the white house giving a great deal of attribution to the president's medical adviser that says in part dr. fauci informed the president that it will take two more weeks to have definitive information on the transmissibility, severity and other characteristics of the variant, he continues to believe that existing vaccines are likely to provide a degree of protection against severe cases of covid. dr. fauci also reiterated that boosters for fully vaccinated individuals provide the strongest available protection from covid. the president is expected to give an update on the situation on monday. also on monday travel restrictions to several southern african nations including south africa and botswana will go into effect. joe johns, cnn, the white house. >>> while those travel restrictions are now in effect for eight african countries, a measure not all-americans agree with, the u.s. travel association issued a statement trying to get the president to reconsider saying

how much is that a failing opt part of white house messaging? and how much is it about politics working against him? >> i think several things. the biggest factor of all is reality. that americans thought we were on a glood path to return to normal. that was tremendously disrupted by the rise of the delta variant. and secondly, the inflation is just a daily force. and factor in peoples lives that is very hard to message around. there are a lot of positives in the economy. that are developing in terms of job growth. and gdp growth and stock market return. that are basically being eclipsed by the continuing struggles of covid and the inflation the hope in the white house is if both of those work themselves out sometime in 2022. the under lying conditions will come to the floor. and biden could recover substantially. maybe not in time for 2022. but we have seen this movie before. we have reagan, clinton and obama. all came into office with the economy in turmoil. it didn't turn around fast enough to save the party. in the second half of the term, t

. >> who were working for the house? >> there were white servants? >> white servants? >> oh, yeah. >> by the end of the 1920s, oil pumped today's equivalent of almost $3 billion into the tribe's bank account. every osage got an equal share called the head right, which made them some of the richest people in the entire world. for non-osage, it was an outrage. so many of these images are of your family and other people just really living these incredibly lavish lifestyles. but at the same time, are you saying -- >> well, it bred a lot of resentment. >> reporters around the country flocked to oklahoma, filing sensational stories of indescribable wealth. >> they were writing about the spending habits or the lavish lifestyle, making us look like cartoons, you know, like story of an osage that had a brand-new car and drove it till it ran out of gas and then just left it, like we were just idiots that just fell into this money and we deserved to have it taken away from us. >> who was benefiting from the osage back then? >> the bankers. they would charge exorbitant fees for lo

. >> xi also went to the white house. and in l.a., he took in a lakers game. >> self-confident and gregarious. even westernized in his way. >> america was charmed. >> it was inappropriate, but i love that man. >> so how did that xi jinping, viewed with so much hope -- how did he become this xi jinping? >> xi jinping making a veiled threat against the united states. >> anyone who tries to bully china, he says, will be banging its head bloody against a great wall of steel. >> this indelible phrase that struck people around the world. >> many china scholars do not recognize the xi jinping they see now. >> i didn't see -- i don't think any of us saw the kind of dictatorial sycophantic control freak that he has become. >> china is much more of a dictatorship today. >> because of xi jinping. >> that's a recipe for series danger. >> xi jinping is the most repressive leader china has seen since chairman mao. in just the last few months he has handed down dozens of new orders. they see greater state control over everything from ed

. >> working for the house. >> servants white servants. oh yeah. >> by the end of the 1920s oil pumped today's equal of $3 billion. in to the tribes bank account. every osage got an equal share. called the head right. which made them the richest people in the entire world. for non-osage, it was an out rage. >> so many of these images are of your family and other people just really living these incredibly lavish lifestyles. but at the same time are you saying -- >> it bred resentment. >> reporters around the country flocked to oklahoma. filing sensational stories of indescribable wealth. >> they were writing about spending habits and lavish lifestyle. making us look like cartoons. like story of the osage had a brand new car and drove it until it ran out of gas and left it. like we were just idiots that fell into this money. and we deserve to have it taken away from us. >> who is benefitting from the osage? back then? >> the bankers. they would charge fees for loans. store owners charge osages ten times more than non-osage. >> simply cheatin

. >> xi also went to the white house and in l.a. he took in the lakers game. >> self-confident and gregarious. >> inappropriate but i love that man >> how did that xi jinping viewed with so much hope, how did he become this xi jinping? >> jipg xi jinping making a threat against the united states. anyone tries to threaten china will be banging their head against the great wall of steel. >> it struck people around the world. many china's scholars do not recognize the xi jinping they see now. >> i didn't see and i don't think anybody saw the kind of sycophant control freak that he has become. china is much more of a dictatorship today because of xi jinping. >> that's a recipe for serious danger. >> xi jinping is the most suppressive leader china had seen since chairman mao. they see greater state control over everything from education to technology and entertainment. >> things as simple as who you can admire in the movies, every piece of entertainment culture. no more men on television. china calls them sissy men. >> also ford bidden,

i want to go to the white house. you got a briefing almost immediately upon landing about the latest on the developments whampt did president biden hear from his team, joe? >> reporter: caitlyn, they put out a status report or what we here at the white house call a readout. it was essentially very short and sort of giving a summary. now the president flew back to the washington area where he spent the day with his family. went to a briefing with his covid response team including dr. anthony fauci who is seen front and center in a picture they released wearing a mask there. he was heavily attributed in the statement they put out. that statement says dr. fauci informed the president while it will take approximately two more weeks to definitive information on the transmissibility, severity and other characteristics of the variant, he continues to believe that existing vaccines are likely to provide a degree of protection against severe cases of covid. dr. fauci also reiterated that boosters for fully vaccinated individu

joe johns is at the white house. the president returned to the white house. what did president biden hear from his team? >> reporter: caitlyn, we got a readout. there's a lot in there about what we don't know. it's a status report after the long thanks giving day weekend. the president flying back from his vacation in nantucket straight into a briefing on covid with his covid response team. in his readout there's a lot of attribution to dr. fauci. dr. fauci informed the president while it will take two more weeks to have definitive information on the transmissibility, severity and other characteristics of the variant, he continues to believe that existing vaccines are likely to provide a degree of protection against severe cases of covid. dr. fauci also reiterated that boosters for fully vaccinated individuals provide the strongest available protection from covid. now the president is expected to provide an additional update on monday. monday as we mentioned at the top is also the day when those travel restrictions on several southern african countries will g

at all working right now. >>> and the white house, as we know, have tapped into u.s. strategic oil reserves to ease the pain of motorists. get this, now pancake lovers can rejoice in their own relief. canada is dipping into their reserves of maple syrup, a cartel of 11,000 canadian producers is working with a spike of demand that cut down on the harvest. it's draining half of its stocks and 1500 pounds will end a sticky situation. >>> and a toddler who became an overnight sensation after being filmed sliding down the hill on a snowboard. the 11-month-old hit the slopes at a ski resort in china, and although she hasn't mastered walking yet, her parents put her on the board and were surprised to see she could stand on her own and kept on encouraging her, as any parent should. she wears protective gear inside her snow clothes for her safety, and her parents have now hired a professional coach to help train her. not a bad idea. i jumped the gun a little too soon. we do have one more story to bring to you this evening. for many communities a local restaurant provides a pla

cnn's joe johns is at the white house. and, joe, what more are we learning about the president's covid briefing today? >> right. well, just a little bit of clarity as i was walking out here to the camera just a couple minutes ago, i did see the sentry signal. that briefing has wrapped up and we're told to expect a read-out, presumably written, to tell us whatever it is the administration would like us to learn about the president's briefing, which we're told included dr. anthony fauci. and i think also important to say that this administration has been trying pretty much all afternoon to send a very strong and clear message that the president is very much focused on the omicron variant to the extent that the administration put out a statement even before he left nantucket on his thanksgiving weekend saying he was going to have this meeting, and now it has occurred. also i think important to say, jim, that we are now in the countdown period before those travel restrictions on several southern african countries, including so

i worked at the white house as a reporter when he was the white house. this is just unbelievable. he seems to have become the doctor of disinformation for the far right. >> and this is what's happening in this country. so if you look -- if you're searching for an explanation for why 50 million american adults have not gotten vaccinated, it comes from people like ronnie jackson, people who doubt the severity of this pandemic, people who have doubted the consequences of not getting vaccinated, people who have doubted the efficacy of masks. so now as a new potentially dangerous variant is identified, you see this anti-science coming from a former doctor. i call him former doctor because that's how he behaves. he behaves as a former doctor. i'll tell you that ronnie jackson is -- >> and doctors don't say that lightly, by the way. >> ronnie jackson called president obama a deep state traitor. president obama was -- first of all, was his commander in chief, was his patient, and was also the man who promoted mr. jackson to flag rank. and he called that person a deep state traitor. and, t

>> well, joe, president biden arrived back at the white house a short time ago. he's getting briefed on the new variant sometime today. we did hear from him very briefly a short time ago, but we see other world leaders giving addresses. do we expect to hear from the president today? >> well, i think only the president knows right now, paula, but what i can tell you is the president on his way back here from his long weekend in nantucket stopped at joint base andrews as is the custom, and he was asked by a reporter whether he'd be putting any more travel restrictions in place in addition to those restrictions already in place and going into effect on monday on several soften countries including south africa and botswana. the president said he eastbound meeting with his medical team and then he'd have more to say. the question, of course, whether the mr. president have more to say today. you can sort of add that to the long list of questions that have developed over the thanksgiving weekend, including whether the omicron variant is in the united states right now, a

with me now joe johns at the white house and nada nashir in london. this are variant is already in europe and one thing they can agree on it's going to take weeks to know what we're dealing with so what happens between now and when we have a better sense of exactly what this variant means? >> reporter: that's absolutely right. there is time needed to really find out the details about the new omicron variant but there are questions over its transmissibility, over howie is veer the disease it might cause and also on its impact on vaccine efficacy, but as we've seen in the last few days these cases are on the rise. we've just seen in the last few hours the uk and germany both confirming their third cases of the omicron variant alongside a number of other nations, and this is expected to rise. perhaps most troubling we've seen in the netherlands they had identified 61 confirmed cases of coronavirus on friday from a passengers on a flight from south africa. they have now confirmed that at least 13 of those who tested positive have tested positive for the o