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the man had three-quarter of a million ballots in his truck. quoting the district attorney, now. his alleged investigation was backward, from the start. first, alleging a crime had occurred. and then, trying to prove it happened. the incident took place, shortly before the election, and it's not hard to see why. >> the biggest problem we have is if they cheat with the ballots. that's my biggest problem. that's the only thing. that's the only thing i worry about. you don't wake up and not read a story about it. every day, there's cheating with the ballots. >> the president was wrong about the ballots, but right about the story being everywhere because, repeat after me, he was spreading it. that's what he was doing. so, were his enablers, and so are his enablers on capitol hill. and they were on full display today, on capitol hill. a self-licking ice cream cone. it's an old, federal government term for per pepetuating system which exists only to perpetuate

itself. a toxic and allegedly, nearly deadly, self-licking ice cream cone. despite a total lack of evidence, total lack of evidence, the president and his enablers pushing the voter-fraud myth relentlessly. then, citing the fact that people are talking about as justification for pushing it. and so, it goes, around and around, until angry mobs fill the street and protest a stolen election, that was not stolen. until, a majority of republicans in recent polling, now believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, the election was rigged. now, deciding to justify new hearings on the subject, today. >> a large percentage of the american public does not believe the november election results are legitimate. this is not a sustainable state of affairs in our democratic republic. >> so, normally, you might think the next sentence would be he is speaking truth to those people.

saying, you're wrong, you've been misinformed, you've been misled. that is wisconsin senator, ron johnson. stating the state of affairs that his hearings are helping to sustain, in fact. here's missouri republican josh hawley. >> every one of them told me they felt they had been disenfranchised, that their votes didn't matter, that the election had been rigged. these are normal, reasonable people. these are not crazy people. these are reasonable people and who, by the way, have been involved in politics. they've won. they've lost. they've seen it all. these are normal folks, living normal lives, who firmly believe that they have been disenfranchised. >> except, they haven't. and he's encouraging that because, in part, he's been telling them they have every reason to believe that. and then, citing their concerns about this falsehood as reason to continue perpetuating said falsehood. some of which, according to the fbi, were stoked by russia as part of a disinformation

campaign targeting the 2020 election. democratic senator, gary peters, latching onto that, recognized the hearing for what it was and called it out. >> whether intended or not, this hearing gives a platform to conspiracy theories and lies. and it's a destructive exercise that has no place in the united states senate. >> i can't sit by here and listen to this. and say that this -- this is not disinformation, this hearing today. this is getting information we have to take a look at, to restore confidence in our election integrity. we -- we're not going to be able to just move on, without bringing up these irregularities, examining them, and providing an explanation. and see where there really are problems, so we can correct it moving forward. >> senator paul. >> mr. -- mr. chairman, i have got to respond to that. one, i had nothing to do with this report. >> you lied repeatedly. you lied repeatedly in the press that i was spreading russian disinformation and that was an outright lie. and i told you to stop lying,

and you continue to do it. >> mr. chairman, this is not about erring your grievances. i don't know what rabbit hole you are running down. >> and here we are. again, without any evidence or rabbits. allegations demand evidence and that -- extraordinary ones demand more. yet, time and again, in court case after court case, it simply has not been there. ron johnson can puff up his chest and act tough all he wants but the evidence isn't there. and no amount of hearings where they're just airing stuff that does not hold up in court makes any sense. judges have tossed out case after case after case because of lack of evidence. lack of merit. lack of standing. all the way up to the conservative-dominated supreme court. attorney general barr has said there was no systemic fraud. georgia's top-election officials, all republicans, have.

but, millions of americans haven't gotten the message because one american, in particular, is feeding them a diet of disinformation. and his enablers, like you just saw, are just going along for the ride. >> do you worry about the country being divided as if it goes to inauguration, and they still feel that way and you still feel that way? >> no, i worry about the country having an ill legitimate president. that's what i worry about. a president that lost and lost badly. this wasn't like a close election. we won georgia, big. we won pennsylvania, big. we won wisconsin, big. i got 75 million and they say i lost. i didn't lose. the election was rigged. >> i mean, what he is just saying there is just complete, utter bs. and he is saying it, i mean, he was the president of the united states. he still is the president of the united states, for now, for a couple more days. i mean, that's just -- that's -- that's just like -- that's snake oil salesman talking.

for all we know, maybe he believes it. i don't really care but it's not true. and i don't think he believes it. of course, he doesn't believe it. however delusional he may be, at least he is upfront about being a liar. so over the top that anybody of reasonable disposition would see he is lying. at least he is not couching it in weasel words like -- like these. >> i don't see anything dangerous about evaluating information. about doing legitimate, congressional oversight. nothing dangerous about that, whatsoever. >> that is him bowing to the president, constantly. nothing dangerous about that, mr. president. you're right, mr. president. here is the harm -- where is the harm, he wonders? his colleague, democrat chris murphy of connecticut, supplies the answer. >> because you have a majority of republicans in this country,

who believe that joe biden won the election fraudulently, when there's no evidence that that happened. and that belief, as it festers and it grows. this idea that, if democrats win, it has to be because of fraud. it does, eventually, lead to the voters' will being overturned and that is the end of american democracy. don't just assume that this system is going to be around for another 240 years. this is a miracle that we have held this together, thus far. it is just a series of choices that we make. >> senator murphy joins us now. senator murphy, there was one other line from your speech on the senate floor that struck me. you said, quote, you cannot, at the same time, love america and hate democracy. do you think the republicans who are supporting president trump's efforts to overturn the election hate democracy? >> well, they're destroying democracy. they're destroying democracy. and i'm not engaging in

hyperbole here. i have tough words for my republican colleagues on the floor, last week, for good reason. there are a lot of flag-waving, republican leaders out there, who are undermining the faith that we all have in fair elections because their allegiance is, first and foremost, to donald trump. they are willing to do anything to keep him in power, even if it means overturning the will of the electorate in georgia and pennsylvania and wisconsin. and, while this election, in the end, really wasn't close enough for them to steal while maintaining a straight face. if this is the tactic that they will employ. if they are willing to just overturn an election result because, if a democrat won, well, it must be because of fraud, even if we can't find it. well, then, there will be a close enough election. in 2022, maybe, an election that decides control of the senate. there will be an election in 2024. maybe, the presidency, itself, that will be overturned by republican-election officials that have been told by their leaders that there's fraud, even if you can't find it.

and that is how democracy dies. that is how we all walk away from this experiment. because if it's not the voters that decide who controls the senate. if it's republican-election officials, then i'm not sure we can all stay in this project, together. so, yeah, i think this is really serious. and ron johnson and his ilk, who fuel these conspiracy theories, who undermine the results of the 2020 election. you know, i think they will -- they will rue the day they decided to do this, if and when our democracy crumbles. >> it's like the president. he always says people are talking about this. i hear people talking about this. just because people are talking about it. i mean, in this case, people are talking about it because the president's been pushing this and his enablers have been pushing this as well. but just because people have the wrong idea about something and been given misinformation, i mean, isn't it the job of leaders to stand up? i mean, i'm not talking about the president because that's not

going to happen. but the senators to stand up and say to their constituents. you know what, i know you are hearing all this stuff. but court after court has looked at this, and in courts, they're not even presenting the same evidence that they are talking about on social media because that won't even hold up. no lawyer will actually -- reputable lawyer will actually bring that to court. i mean, that's what leadership is supposed to be doing. not holding hearings, where they're saying, well, you know what, all my constituents are talk about it and they believe this, and so we're looking into it. when it's been looked into, and it's been rejected. >> yeah. josh hawley's right. there are regular, patriotic americans out there, who don't believe that joe biden is actually president. and you know why? because, as patriotic americans, they've been told to listen to the president of the united states. to listen to u.s. senators. and so, when the president and u.s. senators tell them, over and over and over again, that the election was rigged, they believe it. not because they're crazy. but because they have faith that people, in positions of power,

are going to tell them the truth. so, this becomes this circular logic, in which republicans say, well, we got to talk about this because everybody thinks of the election is rigged. by the way, the election was rigged, everybody. there's no way out of that sort of black hole, downward spiral if republicans are willing to stir up conspiracy theories, and then claim because people are listening to them, we, all of a sudden, have to talk about it. by the way, this also serves other republican ends. republicans want to undermine government, in general. they really don't believe the government it solve any problems. so by undermining elections, it makes it really hard for government to do anything good for people. >> i want to play something else you said on the -- in the senate floor speech. >> republicans have decided, not all republicans but far too many have decided that, if democracy can't keep trump in power, then democracy ceases to have any

real purpose. because, to republicans who are supporting these continued efforts to invalidate the election, their loyalty is to donald trump, not to the nation or our system of government. their number-one goal is to keep trump in power. and if that means throwing out the election, turning america into something other than a democracy, in which the voters get to choose their leaders. then, so be it. >> do you think politics in the u.s. can go back to some, you know, it doesn't have to be what they were before president trump, but to something that at least you have leadership, you know, trying to support the -- the laws and the norms of our dm democracy? >> so, i think this speaks to a deeper problem. and that is, that people all

around the world are starting to question democracy. you know, this assault on the 2020 election doesn't happen, outside of a broader conversation that's happening. right now, democracy isn't delivering for people, in america and around the world. wages are stagnant. economic mobility is out of reach. all of a sudden, people are thinking to themselves, well, is democracy really going to produce, for me, what i need in order to leave my kids a better world? and so, when anti-democrats, like donald trump, come along, or victor orbon in hungary, or erdogan in turkey, people start to listen. and so, that's not to excuse what republicans are doing, spinning up these conspiracy theories. but if american democracy is going to survive, we have to do more than just say elections aren't rigged. we actually have to repair democracy. we have to mack suke sure that billionaires and the corporations don't get everything they want from democracy, and regular people do. if we don't do that, then i

don't know that democracy can survive, in the long run. >> senator chris murphy, i appreciate your time tonight. it's sobering but i appreciate it. >> thanks. >> we should note, we asked senator johnson to come on the program tonight but have not heard back. phony election fraud fallout, as well as this, as well as new reporting on the president's apparent desire to use the justice department as an instrument of vengeance. jim acosta joins us now with that. what are you learning about the president's last-ditch efforts to try to overturn the -- the dually-certified election results, which is not going to happen, but his allies might try. >> yeah, anderson. the charade continues. we have been talking about this january 6th date, when they're supposed to read the and tally up the electoral votes in the house of representatives. and officially, put joe biden over the top, once again, as the incoming president. and what i am hearing from a source, close to the white house, is that white house advisers are tracking the number of republican senators that they

believe could sign onto that effort. and so, this could get messy on january 6th. it might not just be house republicans who are making this kind of noise on the house floor. they may be doing it, with the support of senate republicans. that, obviously, you know, has people nervous that this could potentially spiral into something quite ugly. obviously, it's not going to prevent joe biden from becoming president because the democrats control the house of representatives. but, that prospect is still out there. and -- and part of the reason why is you've laid it out perfectly, anderson, over the first 14 minutes of your show. republicans, like senator ron johnson, are in fear of president trump. even though he is leaving office, they fear the president and they fear his base. >> jim acosta, appreciate it. thanks. coming up next. why it's beginning to look like black friday at the white house when it comes to people clamoring for pardons. later, what's about to become the deadliest night of the pandemic. the next, new hope on the vaccine front, and how soon it's now expected to arrive.

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so you can go from saving... to living. keeping your oysters busihas you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo there is new reporting, tonight. the president, preparing to use the criminal justice system to reward allies with pardons. potential recipients, all but beating down the white house door. so, what are you learning about the volume of pardon requests the white house is receiving, and whom they are coming from? >> well, anderson, we are told from sources familiar, that hundreds of people have been --

the election because they know, in these final weeks, this is their last chance to get their pardon request in front of the president. they know this is a president who likes to use his pardon power. he is not afraid to -- to go out of bounds with it. and he's also transactional. he likes to make deals. and so, some of these people that i have spoken to are hoping that their loyalty to the president, over the last few years, will pay off. that the president will, either, give themselves, give this person a pardon or a friend or a family member or clients of lobbyists and lawyers. as one source told me, tonight, i was just talking to, anderson. they said it's really coming in from all over the place. and so, that's the dynamic you are seeing right now. with the white house being inundated with these pardon requests, from all over the place. in fact, they had to create a spreadsheet to keep tabs on all the different people making the requests, and who the requests are for. now, the white house counsel's office has been working on this. the president has reviewed some of these cases and the pros and cons and so forth of that.

he's been asking his aides and allies, for a while, who he should pardon. and we should note, at the end of any administration, it's very common for there to be a rush, in terms of looking at who to pardon. but, i am told, from officials i have spoken with, that this is above and beyond what you would typically see at the end of an administration. people going around the official process, doj, and going directly to senior-white house officials, the chief of staff, the white house counsel's office, the vice president. if they can't get in touch with trump, himself, as they are all trying to -- to lobby for themselves or for their clients or for their friends and family. >> yeah. the president showed virtually no interest in the traditional, justice department pardon process, which there is one. what's the latest, whether he is expected to pardon his adult children or even himself? >> well, i'm told that he has looked at or considered pardoning, providing clemency, for a couple of dozen -- around a couple of dozen of people in his orbit. and, of course, that would include the preemptive pardons we have discussed for his

children. rudy giuliani. his -- his lawyer. it has not been ruled out, i'm told, for self-pardon. although, sources i have spoken to say that is not an actively part of this discussion, right now. but, of course, we know the president has, previously, been very interested in the idea of self-pardons. he has asked his aides about it. he is trying to learn about it. so, it certainly has not been ruled out, at this point. and i am also told he's been looking at people like trump tower longtime cfo. so, he is looking at people in his orbit who, in his mind, could be targeted for political reasons. and also, of course, he wants payback, as well. he feels like he can use his pardon power for payback with the russia investigation, anderson. >> i know, lastly, you also have some reporting about the president's behavior and state of mind when people try to discuss with him the reality of leaving office on january 20th. >> yeah, it's interesting. he is seeing this pardon frenzy, right now, which is a clear sign

his term is coming to an end. at the same time, he is really delusional, according to officials, in terms of accepting the election results. even in the wake of the electoral-college certification, sources describe him as being simply petulant, throwing a temper tantrum. he's even thrown out he is not going to leave the white house on election day. now, people we've spoken to don't actually believe he will not leave the white house. they are trying to steer his attention towards post-white house, what he should do. but certainly, even with all this evidence, information, that he has lost this election, anderson, he is still not willing to admit that. >> pamela brown, fascinating reporting. appreciate that. thank you. joining us now, gloria borger and cnn political commentator, van jones. gloria, people around the president seem to speak as one would with a child. he's unhappy so we're distracting him with talk about, you know, what his postelection life might look like. i mean, this is an adult,

supposedly. >> supposedly. and they talk about him as someone who throws tantrums. and they're not sure when they can talk to him. i mean, that sounds like any 2 or 3-year-old that i've ever raised. so, of course, it's childish. it's chaotic. this is how the world of donald trump runs. the guardrails, if there ever were any, anderson, are off right now. and all they want to do, it seems, is keep him calm until january 20th. what is so, completely illogical to me, though, and pam hinted at this, is that here is a president who is completely preoccupied with the power of the pardon that comes, generally, at the end of a president's term. but at the same time, he refuses to admit that it is actually the end of his term. and yet, he wants to talk about pardons. go figure that one. >> van, this -- the whole pardon thing. i mean, it's like the -- what was it -- the opening scene, godfather 2, where there is the wedding going on. and all these people are lined

up to get, you know, to get favors from the father of the bride on -- on the wedding day. i mean, this is like what happens in, you know, countries that have ruling families that have been entrenched in power and are corrupt. >> well, it -- it's -- it's funny because i'm actually, you know, i'm pro-pardon, pro-clemency. i'm a criminal justice person. i think governors should be much more aggressive, i think presidents should be much more aggressive, in trying to find those cases, where there's been abuses of -- of -- of power or there have been, you know, sentences have been too long. or someone's changed their life and they deserve -- i think governors and presidents should do a lot more of that. president obama had a lot more of doing that but he had a system for doing it. he had a process for doing it. and what you see here, that power, which i think is an important counterbalance to a system that's gotten out of control, being used but being

used no system, no structure, no process. so, that means there is going to be a cloud hanging over all these pardons. i think that i would love to see a lot of people who are serving sentences way too long, especially for drug offenses, be able to come home. and be able to come home in an orderly manner. but that doesn't seem to be what's going on, at this point. seems to be more of a free for all. i like to see more pardons. i want to see more process, though, so we know it's fair and it's not about favoritism. >> acting attorney general next week. do you think the president will push rosen to appoint special counsel to look into hunter biden? >> does the sun rise? yes, i think he will. and i don't know how far he's going to get. the -- rosen gave an interview, in which he sounded like he had kind of a punch list that he wants to get through. which sounds, to me, like he wants to tie up loose ends and not start anything new. i think the question we have to ask right now is that, if the

president believes that rosen won't do it, there are reports that he is looking to figure out whether he can actually appoint special counsel, himself. we don't think he can. but i'm not a legal scholar. so, i don't know whether there is any legal way for him to get around that. but, of course, he wants a special counsel because this is about vengeance. this is about retribution. this is about delegitimizing joe biden's election and -- and hurting his family. that's what he wants to do. >> van, obviously, president operates on revenge and fires those who don't get in line, you know, with seeking to punish his perceived enemies. do you see fbi director chris wray's job, potentially? >> you know, something needs to be done. in the wake of all of this, you know, we've -- we've had a system, where there was almost an honor system. especially, after nixon. where we -- you had presidents

that understood -- you really want to have that independent department of justice. you really want to have -- do everything you can to make sure that it looks like the laws are being enforced fairly because that is key to social cohesion. once you start figuring out that, you know, you get as much justice as you can buy. you get as much justice as you can kind of associate yourself people in power to get access to. now, you don't have law and order. you don't have rule of law. you have rule of a person. and that's what a king is about. so, you know, all bets are off. but, i tell ya, if i'm joe biden, i hope that joe biden has, as a number one priority, reinstating all the whistle-blowers who got knocked out. all these people -- you know, especially people -- not political appointments, necessarily. but there are people who lost their jobs because they were trying to do something right and they got fired. he should try to figure a way to send a signal back, you know, there can be some help for you later on when the tables turn.

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we are on the verge of what could be the deadliest single day of the pandemic, so far. right now, the u.s. recorded more than 3,300 deaths, today. in fact, of the top-five deadliest days, all have been this month. also, tonight, we have once again set a new high for those currently hospitalized.

that figure is 113,069. earlier today, dr. anthony fauci said emergency approval for a second coronavirus vaccine, this one by moderna, could come as early as tomorrow. dr. fauci also said with americans now being vaccinated, it's inevitable that certain people will experience allergic reactions. he was responding to a report in alaska that a worker with no known history of severe allergic reaction to a vaccine. also, word tonight of pharmacists uncovering more doses of the pfizer vaccine than was originally believed to have been shipped out. joining me now, dr. sanjay gupta, and cnn medical analyst, dr. leana wen, former baltimore health commissioner. so, sanjay, the level of death and illness we are seeing. is this the impact of people who gathered together for thanksgiving? is this kind of a wave from that? >> yeah. it -- it seems to be. i mean, we're sort of in that -- that window, now, of time. exposures that happened over thanksgiving. we know a lot of people traveled

over thanksgiving. less than last year, but still a lot more than any public-health official would have liked. but we can see the graph, now. we can sort of chart the graph after other, major holidays, this year as well. memorial day. july 4th. and now, thanksgiving. and -- and you can sort of see what -- what happens, pretty predictably, after that. you know, what's different, as you know, is that memorial day and july 4th, i mean, they were still warmer-weather holidays. people could, largely, be outside. and that probably goes a long way toward bringing the curve back down. the concern now is people are, largely, going to be gathering indoors. and, you know, a week from now, roughly, is christmas, christmas eve. and then, new year's. and that's the real concern is that we're not really going to get a break from this -- this increase, overall, in viral transmission. >> yeah. dr. wen, northern california begin a new stay-at-home order tomorrow night. christmas eve is a week from tomorrow. new year's eve, a week after

that. what is your message to people, who are still planning to get together with loved ones? >> well, my message to them, anderson, is, please, don't because all we have to do is look around the country and see the numbers. the staggering toll of coronavirus that we are seeing. and those numbers of 3,300, and counting, deaths, today. soon, we're going to reach, at this rate, more than 4,000 deaths, every single day. and there's something that we can each do to be the heroes right now. we are the ones who can make a difference, by staying home and not gathering indoors with our loved ones. i know this is really hard to do. i know that everyone is eager to see our loved ones. but with the vaccine actually here, we just have to get through this really challenging winter ahead, and make that really difficult sacrifice. >> sanjay, the healthcare worker in alaska who had this severe allergic reaction. i understand, the person apparently did not have a history of allergies. do you know more about this? >> yeah. i think you're right. we got some details. the person got the allergy and,

as is the protocol, people are told to wait for at least 15 minutes, after the -- the vaccine is administered. within ten minutes, the person started feeling flushed. you know, just feeling a flushness. a little bit of a rash. took benadryl. the benadryl helped a little bit but person was still having symptoms. eventually, they went and got epinephrine and needed a couple of doses of epinephrine and even an epinephrine drip, for a bit of time. so, it was a significant allergy it sounds like. the person did recover, is doing well. and, you know, it is worth pointing out, we are looking at some of the data today. if you look at vaccines, sort of across the board, and every vaccine is different. flu vaccines, for example. oftentimes, people are concerned about allergies to eggs. but allergy -- severe, i should say, allergic reactions, one in a million times. so, if you think about, you know, hundreds of millions of people being immunized in this country, we are likely to hear

that story, over and over again. but again, recovered fully. and as leana was just talking about, you know, we have two people dying, roughly, a minute, right now of coronavirus. so it is -- it is -- it is something to be mindful of. but obviously, these vaccines are so, critically important right now. >> yeah. dr. wen, what are your thoughts on the allergic reaction? >> i mean, i agree with what sanjay said. that we should expect them to happen. they are rare but they can happen. and i think it's really important that there is transparent and public reporting of these vaccines. so, i'm really glad to hear sanjay and cnn and other news outlets report exactly what happened. i think that there needs to be a lot more studies done, also, into looking at what exact component of the vaccine is triggering these reactions. ideally, we have studies now being done of people who have allergic reactions because there are tens of millions of people in the country who have some kind of food or medication allergy, who are now going to be wondering should i be taking this vaccine? well, the answer is yes because

we can treat allergies. they should take the vaccine but we should also be doing the studies to see who is allergic to which vaccine. >> sanjay, as we talked about last night, moderna's vaccine may prevent infection, not just severe illness. once more than one vaccine is available, will people be able to choose which one they want to receive? >> i think the demand is going to be so much higher than the supply, initially. it's going to be challenging. i think, whatever vaccine is available in your area, i can tell you, i was going over the numbers for our health system. i think, about 15 to 16% of people, initially, that would -- that would sort of qualify for the vaccine, will be able to get the vaccine. you know, in the next several days. so, it's going to be hard to pick. i do want to say as well, you know, there is evidence, as you point out, anderson. in the moderna trial, that the vaccine not only did a really good job of preventing illness. but also, did a reasonably good job preventing infection. we just haven't seen that data from pfizer, as well.

i think, you know, just -- just sort of looking and starting to put all the pieces together. it is very likely that these vaccines will, also, reduce infection or at least reduce the viral load or the amount of virus that someone's carrying in their body as well. absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. we just got to see that data, and i think it's going to be really important. >> and just to clarify. when we hear hhs secretary azar talk about doses for pfizer and moderna. 150 million doses, two doses are needed. it's an important distinction when talk about expectations for herd immunity. >> yes, absolutely. i mean, you know, if you start talking 60 to 70% of the country, you are talking about, you know, 500 million doses, roughly, that would be necessary. separated by a few weeks, as we know. but absolutely. so, we always have to take that into account. some of the trials are looking at sort of one-dose sort of regimens. but, moderna, if it gets authorized this week, that would be two vaccines that both require two doses. >> dr. wen, in "the washington

post," you said when allocating a scarce resource, tough choices need to be made. the cdc will offer recommendations, but states decide their own order of priority. moving forward, how do you think states should allocate the vaccine? and why will it be important not to skip their place in line? >> yeah. whenever there is a scarce resource, we know that difficult decisions are going to have to be made. and what i really do not want to see happen is people who are wealthy and who are politically connected, to be able to access the vaccine sooner than people who need it more. especially, because we know that this virus has hit certain communities, communities of color, that have -- that are of low income, particularly hard. and so, i do think that rules need to be set. and we need to really look at fairness and equity here. and we also need to -- need to understand that all of us are in this together. >> yeah. sanjay. dr. leana wen. appreciate it. more breaking news on the vaccine rollout. vice president pence, as well as

second lady, karen pence, will be vaccinated on friday. president trump will not receive the vaccine, until it's recommended by the white house medical team. right now, the official says the president is still receiving the benefits of the treatment he received during his recovery from covid. meanwhile, pleresident-elect bin is expected to get his vaccination early next week. like pence, he plans to do it in public. the latest in the man accused of taking president trump's unfounded claim of voter fraud to a violent outcome. it's our mission. from our expert technicians armed with state of the art tools and technology, to genuine parts made for the perfect fit. whether it's our place... ...or yours. we're there. rain or shine, day or night. no one knows your vehicle better. to learn all the ways we can be at your service, call, click or visit a dealership near you.

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now, to that sobering story we mentioned at the top of the broadcast about just how far some people are willing to pursue these baseless claims of voter fraud that president trump has been promoting. tonight, a former police captain in houston is out on a $30,000 bond after authorities charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. and months after he's followed these conspiracy theories to a more deadly extreme. >> reporter: prosecutors say mark drove a man off the road and held him at gunpoint. the former, houston police captain, suspected the man driving a box truck was the mastermind of a voter-fraud conspiracy. investigators say that mastermind was, actually, david lopez, an air-conditioning repairman, who says he was blindsided by the attack. he said, help me, help me, with

his hand inside his coat. then, when i tried to help him, he pulls out a gun. that is when i was told to get on the ground. when i saw him unlock the safety, i thought he is going to shoot me. he thought he was about to die. former harris county election clerk, chris holland, says it's a dangerous example of when conspira conspiracy theories go too far. >> an innocent man, a working man, a family man, who was accosted at gunpoint, for no reason, whatsoever. it's extremely unfortunate. it's dangerous. this man deserves to be prosecuted. >> reporter: prosecutors allege he and a team of investigators worked for a group called liberty center for god and country. the group tracked the repairman for four days, suspecting the man was carrying 750,000 fraudulent ballots in his work truck. police say, there were no ballots in the truck. just air conditioning repair parts and tools. prosecutors say he crossed the

line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime, and we are lucky no one was killed. >> i believe it's a political prosecution. he was working investigating voter fraud. there was an accident. they were surveilling a vehicle. there was an accident, and then a member of the car got out and rushed toward him. and that's where the confrontation took place. >> reporter: prosecutors say he was paid $266,000 by the liberty center. the group is run by republican activist steve hozy, the wealthy, republican donor pushed controversial lawsuits against harris county to throw out nearly 130,000 presidential-election ballots, cast at drive-through polling locations. after a judge ruled against the republican lawsuit, the day before the election, hozy acknowledged he had a team of investigators hunting what was really a phantom-voting menace. >> you think democrats are stealing the election in texas? >> yes. i know that. i have had investigators on the ground, that democrats have

committed massive, voter election fraud in harris county. >> no reports of massive, widespread fraud in voting. that -- that is -- that is a fact, no matter how many times you say it. >> sir, you're totally wrong on that. >> reporter: houston houston police say part of the incident was captured on police body camera footage. court documents say aguirre demanded that the responding officer arrest the a.c. repairman. aguirre told the officer he can, quote, be a hero or part of the problem. i just hope you're a patriot. >> ed lavandera joins us now. ed, this is just -- i would say unbelievable, but it's not sadly. what more can you tell us about the man who hired this guy? >> reporter: well, steve, hotze, that wealthy republican donor, tonight he remains stubbornly convinced of something he can't prove and hasn't been able to prove. in fact, earlier this afternoon, he went on to say that he'd actually hired at least 20

different investigators, including a former fbi surveillance specialist to look into these claims and these allegations of voter fraud. but, anderson, prosecutors and police in houston continue to say that they have not seen a single shred of evidence to prove those claims in any way. anderson. >> it's like when citizen donald trump was claiming that he'd hired investigators to go to hawaii, and they were finding amazing, incredible evidence about barack obama not being born in hawaii. i mean, investigators on the ground. that's a phrase we should keep an eye on. thanks very much. up next, we take you to moscow. when cnn's clarissa ward tried to confront an agent accused of being linked to vladimir putin nemesis, alexei navalny.

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before moving on to our next

story, some sad breaking news. we've now surpassed the previous record for covid deaths by a lot. the total stands at 3,453. it's a record number of cases as well. more than 238,000. as we mentioned, record hospitalizations as well. now, reaction to a stunning cnn exclusive report that seems like a plot from a hollywood movie. instead, this is real life. this all has to do with the poisoning of alexei navalny. cnn along with the investigative group bellingcat have uncovered evidence that an elite team specializing in nerve agents followed navalny's moves for years. he was poisoned with a lethal toxin in august and nearly died. clarissa ward and her team have been working the story for months. her stunning report first aired on monday and finally two days later, there's some reaction from russia. those details in a moment. first, here's part of clarissa's

exclusive report. take a look as she attempts to confront one of the men accused of being at the heart of the assassination attempt. >> reporter: we're here now at the home of one of the fsb team, and we're going to see if he has anything to say to us. we enter a rundown apartment building on the outskirts of moscow, where the operative lives. [ speaking foreign language ] my name is clarissa ward. i work for cnn. can i ask you a couple of questions? [ speaking foreign language ] was it your team that poisoned navalny, please? do you have any comment? he doesn't seem to want to talk to us. >> clarissa ward joins me tonight from moscow. clarissa, this reporting is just extraordinary. what's the reaction been to your reporting in russia? >> reporter: well, thank you

very much, anderson. it was very much a team effort. but what's so shocking honestly is that there's basically been no reaction. it's been radio silence. we've reached out to the kremlin. well, guess what? dmitry peskov, the spokesperson for president putin, canceled his briefing yesterday. he canceled it again today, ostensibly because president putin gives a big press conference tomorrow. but really it's startling to see the lack of any reaction. we did hear something today from the foreign minister, sergey lavrov. he said he found the report funny. he said he was used to these types of things from the west, and he said one shouldn't confuse russia's silence on this issue with an admission of guilt. but not really any substantial, meaningful response to our allegations, anderson. >> given the importance of what you uncovered, has there been any reaction from other countries or in washington? >> reporter: well, i mean we have heard from secretary of state mike pompeo. he essentially said that, you know, the u.s. has already called out russia on its

activities and that this investigation needs to happen and russia needs to give a full accounting of what happened. but the reality is that unlike the uk and the eu, who have both come out, who have called this an assassination attempt, who have levied sanctions against top defense officials, against kremlin officials, the u.s. really has been dragging its heels on this one. and that's one thing that navalny told me. he said, i want to see the u.s. be on the right side of history here. come out. condemn chemical weapons and levy sanctions against people who are responsible for it. >> and i understand you talked about this press conference vladimir putin is supposes to have tomorrow. what do you expect from that? >> reporter: it's always difficult to know exactly. these press conferences are a big annual event. they can last anywhere from three to four, even five hours occasionally. but they are very heavily curated. you have to submit the question in advance. they cherry-pick the questions they want to answer.

perhaps unsurprisingly, i don't have my properaccreditation, so i will not be allowed to ask a question. but, listen, i'm really counting on my colleagues out there, both western and russian to ask the president about this team of operatives and about the poisoning of alexei navalny and to get people in power here to answer for this. >> appreciate it. thank you. check out our full report online. don't miss full circle. you can catch it streaming live at 6:00 p.m. eastern. the news continues. let's hand it over to chris for "cuomo prime time." thank you, anderson. i am chris cuomo, and welcome to "prime time." i want you to think about this. in america, we refer to our highest officials as honorable. an example. >> the honorable ron johnson, senator from the state of wisconsin. >> the honorable mitch mcconnell, senator from the commonwealth of kentucky. >> the honorable rand