attempting to extort nike for millions of dollars. when details emerged of daniels' alleged relationship with the former president, avenatti almost instantly became a regular presence on both network and cable television news shows, including this one. but he was convicted back in february for threatening to publicly accuse the sportswear company nike of elicit payments to amateur athletes unless nike paid him first. for his part avenatti went openly in the courtroom, at one point saying he'd betrayed his friends, family and himself. the federal judge who handed down the sentence said, "mr. avenatti had become drunk on the power of his platform or what he perceived his platform to be." the news continues right now. i want to hand it over to chris for "cuomo prime time." chris? >> all right. thanks, coop. i am chris cuomo and welcome to "primetime." if you're on the left or on the right keep your eyes on texas. it's america's largest red state and republicans there are showing the 2022 playbook prp and it's not new. fraud and fright. for you on the right, do you like it?

for you on the left, can you counter it? contrived culture wars with a side dish of election fraud farce. democrats better be watching. the trumper governor there, greg abbott, called a special session today to push this agenda. and it is very campaign-ish. a revised voter restriction bill. it's revised because if you'll remember state democrats blocked the gop's initial attempt. remember they staged a walkout, said we're not going to be part of this attempt to suppress the vote. it happened back in may. just a few minutes before a house deadline. but it was kind of the only bullet they had to stop it. they don't have the votes. will another walkout work, or is it just delaying the inevitable? the real question, though, is why the governor is now saying, now, that he must fix something that he admitted in the past was not broken. listen. >> right now i don't know how many or if any elections in the state of texas in 2020 were altered because of voter fraud.

>> so he didn't know. he suggested there may be none. no proof to bolster any sense that there was fraud ever came thereafter, nor does he offer any. yet now there's something he must fix. it is the game. but again, the democrat walkout may not work completely, but it did soften the suck they now face. and here's how. the revised bill excludes a couple of provisions. one, they were going to ban sunday voting, known as souls to polls. and they were going to lower the threshold for overturning an election. now, both were obvious power grabs, and one was specifically targeting minorities. speaking of power, listen to what is not on the agenda. the power grid problems. remember the woes back in the winter time? they said oh, the grid's built for summer. and now not doing too great in texas with the grid. the governor said it was built to handle it.

they have problems. why not deal with the tough things? that's what this is all about. distraction. culture wars. it's always worked. the new one, critical race theory. k crt. buckle up. you're going to hear a lot about this. and you should probably get curious about what it really is. it is a theory for understanding how the legacy of slavery, how racism has mixed with law over time to create systemic inequality. that's what it is. okay? what it's being used for, a weapon. forcing socialism. teaching all white kids they are bad. these moves are obviously political. but will they be effective? let's turn to a texas lawmaker who has a say in all of this. state representative trey martinez fisher was one of the leaders of the democratic walkout in may that likely got republicans to modify their voter restriction legislation. it's good to have you, sir. >> thank you, chris. >> you know, i see a lot of

people asking you lawmakers on the democrat side in texas, will you do it again? will you do it again? you know it's just delaying the inevitable. the question is what is the real move here? what is your warning on coming on a national show to tell people about what texas might mean for the rest of the country? >> the message is very clear. america, we need to wake up. we need to preserve our democracy. we need a federal voting rights solution. and we need it now. chris, this is a now or never moment. we're holding the line in texas and we're going to fight with all our might. but even if we were to fix this problem in texas it doesn't solve the problem for the rest of the nation. we need a national standard, and we are deadlocked in the u.s. senate. it is time for everyone to up their game. we're in the fourth quarter. every man, woman in america, this is the time to speak up. >> have you seen with the passage of time in trying to make the case to colleagues that it has changed the inclinations of any on the right in your state in terms of the lawmakers?

>> well, i'll tell you what. you hit it on the head. the problem we have here in texas, people are actually voting. we had a 66% turnout in the 2020 election. and president trump, former president trump, won by 5 1/2 points. we're not as red as people think. we're becoming purple. so the only way you can stop that momentum is to change the game. just like you said, let's make the lhurdles higher, let's put more tripwire on the ground, let's make it a crime to vote in texas and that's the only way these folks can hold on to power. so when it comes to survival of the fittest, they're not willing to be pragmatic or bipartisan. >> do you think that ignoring the power grid problems, which are a concern for a lot of people in your state, and instead focusing on the culture war of critical race theory, do you think that's going to work? >> so yeah, they call this a special session. right? there is nothing special about this session. this is what we call the suppression session. because we are not dealing with the real problems. we need to fix our grid just like you mentioned.

we have federal dollars sitting in our treasury that we haven't given to you are o'schools, we haven't given to our small communities that don't get direct federal assistance from the federal government. and we now have a delta variant exploding in the state of texas and we are not prepared for that. that's what we need to be working on, and i think that's what actually gets voters ticked off, is that folks are going to -- republicans will focus on these red meat issues that go absolutely nowhere but they're just trying to hold on to that little power that they have and it's slowly slipping out of their fingers. >> now, when you say that, what is the feedback that you're getting in your area, your community, your constituency that makes you think this won't work because at least on the media side this critical race theory's getting a lot of traction in texas and it does play into white fright. >> it certainly does. but again, these are these dog whistle politics. we can't just fall for this what i call a jedi mind trick here. we need to keep our eye on what really matters. listen, when i shop at my

grocery store in my community no one ever tells me you know, trey, we're not going to be mean enough to immigrants, go to austin and make some laws laws. or we're not making it hard enough tore women to have health care choices go to austin and do that. folks are concerned about having these kitchen table issues, having an energy system that actually works, making sure we have an air-conditioner in the summer and a heater in the winter, making sure folks are prepared for you apandemic, folks have a job, folks have a place to go if they want to go to college they can afford it. we're not focusing on those issues. and i think voters can see right through it. >> this is a laboratory what is happening in your state. this is going to be what the midterms are about writ large. so we'll be watching to see how it goes, who benefits and why. trey martinez fischer, thank you and good luck. >> thank you, sir. >> all right. so if republicans were serious about election integrity, they would follow what arizona's secretary of state is calling for, a criminal investigation in the face of mounting evidence that trump allies pressured maricopa county election

officials for months to announce voting irregularities in the 2020 election. wouldn't that be by definition fraud? recall what clint hickman, the guy at the center of this, said on this show. >> i told people that were close to the trump campaign, with all this litigation that was going on, i said just hey, just do me a favor, i can't talk to anyone while this is being litigated. and that stayed true all the way up till that new year's weekend. i got a phone call from the white house switchboard. >> arizona's secretary katie hobbs joins us right now. secretary of state, thank you very much. any indication that the republicans in your state want to move away from the fraud farce and deal with any actual fraud that involved anything to do with trump? >> well, we could only hope.

but right now it seems like they are just continuing to lead by conspiracy theory. those who know that this fraud is a farce aren't willing to speak up about it. and certainly no indication that the state's top law en, toment officer is going to act on our request to investigate. in fact, he didn't even need a request from my office. he should have just acted on the reports alone. every layperson can look at this and say this really does look like an attempt to interfere and should warrant further investigation. >> unless the man who was on the show was lying, it happened. but do you agree that as it stands right now it is highly unlikely anyone will be held to account for strongarming state officials into putting out what they wanted, which was the fraud farce? >> well, to my knowledge there is an investigation right now on the same tactics that were used

in georgia. and so hopefully now that we have this actual evidence that's come forth this it will result in at least an investigation here that can lead to these folks being held accountable. >> here's what you're up against. the gop chair kelli ward, put up her tweet. she was suggesting that election officials should go to jail because their pushback against the fraudit. you know, you blocked access, you withheld or deleted information, said they did not possess the passwords to the computers. did any of that happen? >> they are just making this stuff up. i mean, honestly, right now anything you see coming out of these people's mouths you can just assume they made it up to just continue to pile on because that's their goal, is to continue to sow doubt, to undermine integrity of our election, and they're just making it up. >> secretary of state, thank you for making your case to the audience. thank you for letting us know

what's happening. >> thank you. >> we've got to spend some time on this crt. critical race theory. why? because it's going to be abused a lot. so let's look at it from the teacher angle. my next guest says that teachers in america are being bullied from teaching students accurate history about race. it's not just about talking too much about race. it's that she believes this is about really suppressing any talk about it. she leads one of the largest teachers unions in this country. and she's getting ready for a major legal fight. let's get after it. next. that's like getting two desserts! wait... do we have to thank our moms twice? i don't know... (laughs) breyers. 100% grade a milk and cream, and loaded with delicious cookie pieces. better starts with breyers. hooh. that spin class was brutal. well you can try using the buick's massaging seat. oohh yeah, that's nice. can i use apple carplay to put some music on? sure, it's wireless.

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here. the critical race theory, this bogeyman, is just the new front on the culture war. that's all. the brown menace is gone. they're not coming over the wall to come and take your women. now it's they're coming to take your kids. they claim crt doesn't enlighten, it spreads racism, it spreads socialism, it's just telling white kids that everything you do is somehow given to you and you're worthless and that you have to be to blame for all the bad things. it's none of those things. don't fall for what you're being told. do the homework. okay? it isn't about an intellectual theory. that's not their fight. their fight is about a power theory. okay? and what critical race theory is really about is just choosing which stories matter in the teaching of the history of america. former secretary of state mike pompeo gave up the goods on what this is really about for the trumpers. he tweeted, "if we teach that the founding of the united states of america was somehow

flawed, it was corrupt, it was racist, that's really dangerous. it strikes at the very foundations of our country." this guy is supposed to be a genius. he was at the top of his class at west point. you can teach that america, her birth, her independence, her fight, her foundation was part of the most notable and exceptional experiment in democracy on the face of this planet. comma. and there have been problems all along. and racism is a primary one. both of those things can be said. both are true. and he knows it. this is fake outrage. but it's having real impact on school districts across the country and it may have a chilling effect on what our kids get to learn about who we are and how we got here and why things are not perfect here and why we are trying to promote a more perfect union.

parents against parents, student against student, teachers in danger of getting punished for what they teach in their classrooms. states all across the country are taking up bills to ban critical race theory. what does this mean? let's discuss with the president of the american federation of teachers, randi weingarten. good to see you, randi. >> good to be with you, chris. >> let's deal with the argument and then we'll go to the remedy. the argument, you are teaching about the oppression of black people in this country but you're using it as a cudgel. mike pompeo saying you want to say this country basically stinks and blame white people and this is the left's effort to make a minority into a majority because you want them all to vote for you guys so you can stay in power. >> you know, i mean -- >> that's what you're hearing. i mean, and you're going to hear it more and more. so what's the answer? >> right. so the answer is it's completely not true. i mean, i'm a high school social

studies teacher. it's hard to actually fight against something that's completely not true. because then you're assuming something in evidence that's not true. so let me go through what is true, which is that for the last i don't know, as long as i've been teaching, we teach history flay way where you take salient pieces of american history and you look at them and you examine them to have your kids be able to know the facts and to think through what that means. so when it comes to issues of american history, we teach about the founding and how great it was to actually break from great britain and have a democracy and how important the constitution was, one of the first

constitutional democracies. but it wasn't a multiethnic democracy. the founders basically were very focused on making sure that white men of certain ways had a vote. but this is what's great about america and what we teach in history. that the arc of the moral universe has actually bent toward justice. and that whereas the founders actually were slaveholders we went through a civil war, we went through the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment. we just got to celebrating juneteenth. and so you see that through the struggle of america we create more opportunity and more freedom. what i don't get is that that's a great story for fox tv. that's a great story for all americans. and what's happening now is that in this push to try to erase

what has happened in our history it is chilling teachers from teaching the fact that we did have slavery. it was uncomfortable. we need to get through it. we need kids to be able to critically think about it and to engage and understand it and get better as a result of it. it is the american experiment that we are trying to teach as schoolteachers, both the good and the ugly, but the change that we've seen including having our first african-american president and our first african-american vice president. >> so you see these bills. five states, arkansas, tennessee, texas, bans on critical race theory. related topics as well. that's the dangerous part. because critical race theory as is is not really taught at the primary and secondary level. >> yeah. >> but if you have a dozen other states pushing for similar

legislation, what is your fear these laws, what they will do, and what is your remedy? >> okay. so number one, the fear is take what's happening -- so number one, it's like a modern-day scopes trial. it's like the modern-day version of stopping us from teaching biology and evolution. what the fear is is that teachers will be so bullied and so disparaged, we've seen that already, and threatened, that they'll stop teaching about the civil war, the 13th, 14th, 15th amendment, anything to do with the issues around race, discrimination, bigotry and things like that. and that will be terrible for kids to not understand history and how we actually move to be a more perfect union. >> what's the remedy? >> the remedy is that number one, as a union we have a legal defense fund that we've now put

some more money in and we're going to fight to defend every one of our members who teach honest history. but the other remedy is this. we're going to the courts. like take the texas law. it basically says -- i don't have the exact language. but it basically says that you can only teach slavery as if it was a deviation from the founders. no, that's completely the opposite of our professional responsibility and our standards that says we have to teach honest history. so in texas we're going to go to the courts and say, well, can we or can't we teach the civil war? can we or can't we teach the dred scott decision, the 13th amendment, the 14th amendment, the 15th amendment, juneteenth, the new national holiday? so we're going to do those things. but the other thing we're doing, chris, is we're actually explaining to parents what we're really doing and really truly we

want to get kids back into school in august and september in a welcoming and safe environment where we really start actually bringing community back together because i think that's the real issue here. people have gone through such terrible agita because of covid that there is a sense of chaos and consternation that these culture warriors are seizing on. and what we need to do is bring people back together, our community, our education community, and do it in a welcoming and safe environment where all kids can thrive. >> i look forward to the kids being back in school in person. that is for sure. randi weingarten, thank you for coming on to make the case. >> thank you. >> a brand new update out of haiti. as you know, its president was assassinated. we have dramatic new video. take a look. [ gunshots ]

what is it? it's a gunfight between police and suspects. that's what we're being told the tape is. two arrests in the manhunt are american. does that mean that there was american involvement beyond their citizenship? we're going to have a former top counterterror official's take on what this means about any involvement america did have or will have going forward. next. anything to drink? just water... hold on, we're coming!

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plus, for a limited time, ask how to get a $500 prepaid card when you upgrade. call today. we have breaking news in haiti. authorities now say as many as 28 attackers were involved in the assassination of president moise. and two of them were american citizens. you're looking at video of a gun battle presumably between haitian police and 15 of the suspects. it was posted to social media today. cnn has not confirmed its authenticity. but the point stands. haitian officials say that they

have arrested eight suspects including two haitian americans and six colombians. seven other suspects were killed. in the meantime, what does this mean? joining us now, richard clark, who served as the white house point man on haiti. the fact that two have american citizenship, does that mean to you in any way that there was u.s. involvement in any attack on moise? >> no, chris, it doesn't. what it suggests to me, based on the reporting we have so far, is that colombians, a large number of colombian citizens and perhaps two haitian americans were involved in this. that suggests a drug gang and suggests mercenaries hired by perhaps one of the colombian cartels because the president probably wasn't cooperating. haiti was always been a transit point for drugs from colombia

moving from the united states and a small market for drugs from colombia as well. this looks like a spillover from a colombian drug war. >> big move for a drug dealer or cartel to go after a president. but then again it's haiti. it's not like you're worried about the state coming after you. what does this mean about the likelihood america is going to have to have a heavier footprint there because there will be chaos to come? >> well, i don't think so. the u.n. was there last with its troops and tried to establish security. we tried to establish security before that. it's a very difficult country to govern. i've been in every corner of it. i've been there over a dozen times. it's a country that just doesn't allow itself to be governed very well. there's no tradition of policing. we spent a lot of time trying to build a haitian police force. it lasted about two or three years before it too fell into

corruption. so no, i don't think the united states is going to go back in, but it does show you, chris, that the reason that we as americans have an interest in preventing countries from falling into failed state status is that the spillover affects us. in this case the fact that haiti is more or less a failed state means that drugs can flow from it into the u.s. more easily. >> speaking of failed states and what it means for us, afghanistan. you don't have to be richard clark to know that when america leaves the taliban will move right back in. they're going to have a war there but it's going to be pretty quick, and they use the stick and the carrot and we're going to start to hear ugly things there about what's happening to women, what's happening to ethnic minorities, what's happening to non-muslim extremists. what does that mean for the united states, short and long? >> you know what, chris? that's probably right. the president said today the afghan forces have 300,000 troops and the taliban only have

75,000. i think those numbers are off a little. but it's not a foregone conclusion that kabul will fall or it will fall immediately. but your chances are you're right. and we will probably see terrible things happen. and the rights of women will probably be cut back enormously. >> let me just play for context, let's play what he said and then i'll have you comment on it. here's the president. >> no, i do not trust the taliban. it's a silly question. do i trust the taliban? no. but i trust the capacity of the afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped and more -- more competent in terms of conducting war. >> since when? who has the afghan military ever taken on and won? >> well, no one. and they really don't have 300,000 people. but the point he made that resonated most with me is he said we did not go in to do

nation building. i remember the decision. i was in the room on the night of 9/11 when we made the decision to go into afghanistan. it was to get bin laden, to clean out the terrorist training camps, to prevent afghanistan from being a sanctuary for al qaeda and other terrorist groups. well, it's not anymore. and we don't have to be there in the country with u.s. troops all the time to prevent it from being a sanctuary. we can operate remotely from over the horizon. and the military have developed plans to do just that. i don't think we can say to an american mother or father you've lost your kid in afghanistan in 2021 and look them in the eye and say to them honestly, and your son was there fighting for the freedom of americans. that's just not the case anymore. and i couldn't say to a parent, and i know joe biden couldn't say to a parent, your son or daughter died in afghanistan and they were there fighting to keep

us safe. that's not true anymore. >> i don't think it's been true for quite a number of years now. the question is will it become true again? we'll see. we'll see. and richard clark, i will call on you to help us understand whatever happens going forward. thank you, sir. all right. the war at home. as tough as any terrorist. covid. 24 states are now going in the wrong direction again. look, this isn't a surprise. you knew the variants were going to be here. you knew the places where there hadn't been vaccinations were going to be harder hit. there is news tonight from the government on booster shots. that's not new either. be honest. they've been talking that maybe you'd need a booster shot for a long time. even if fully vaccinated. it's the only way it makes sense. why would you need a booster if you're not vaccinated? you need the vaccine first. so do we need them sooner than later? there's confusion because of something pfizer just said. we'll put it out there. we'll explain it.

we'll discuss with somebody who understands the medicine and the policy. next.

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okay. so why is everybody talking booster, booster, booster, booster? pfizer. pfizer put out a statement saying it's ramping up efforts to develop booster sohots. why? data from israel that immunity is waning from the initial doses. however, the cdc just put out this statement. "americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time. fda, cdc, and nih are engaged in a science-based rigorous process to consider whether or when a booster might be necessary." here's something that you have not heard and you need to hear and needs to be said.

okay? if you guys are all getting together, why not do this? push the fda to commit to the process to get the vaccine approved. instead of jumping ahead to booster, get past eua. because there are many people in this country, especially where their kids are involved, who won't take the vaccine because it is not approved. why isn't it yet if it's so safe and all the data is so good? legit question. when it comes to the booster, let's talk. about what is noise and what is news. dr. william schaffner. it's been a minute, doc. you look well. how are you doing? >> i'm doing fine, chris. glad to help. >> booster, booster, booster, the vaccine doesn't work, you see now we need more. calm me down. >> the answer is that our vaccines still are very, very effective in keeping us out of the hospital, in averting severe disease. that's what they were designed

to do. now, it's a bonus if they can also prevent what we call infection. you can get infected, have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. they diminish that possibility greatly. but they can't turn it off completely. and that's what the israelis are talking about and pfizer has echoed. but as long as these vaccines keep us out of the hospital, then we don't need a booster. and at the moment they also cover all the variants including that delta variant that's rushing through the unvaccinate in this country today. so we're on solid ground at the moment. i'm so glad the pfizer people have done the research ready to have a booster on the shelf if we need it. but we don't need it yet. >> let's look at the data about how -- this idea of waning immunity versus what we're seeing about the strength of the vaccination in the first place. put up the bar graph, please.

the number of people fully vaccinated by covid-19 vaccine type. pfizer, 83.9 million. moderna, 61.7. j&j, the single shot, 12.5. isn't that enough people and enough time for them to be able to make the case that this should be authorized and approved and not just for emergency use? >> you're talking about licensure. that's exactly correct. a lot of us are frankly a bit impatient that the fda hasn't yet worked its way through all of the elaborate, important evaluations in order to license this vaccine. this vaccine has been used in more people, and we know more about its effectiveness and safety, than any other vaccine that we've ever licensed. hurry up already. >> right. what's going on? look, i'm sure you hear it all the time, being a white coat,

that listen, if it's so easy and so good why isn't it approved yet? and i'm not giving it to my kids before it's approved. and state officials, local officials, even private entities saying look, i don't think that we can demand that people take it when it's not even approved yet. this would be a big piece in the puzzle, would it not? >> oh, it certainly would. it would put at ease many, many people and would make it so much easier for us to speak to so many folks and get people who are still anxious and not quite convinced over the line, and we could get them vaccinated. it would be a great help. and i would urge my friends at the fda. i have no insights into the process. i would say how about a few all-nighters and long weekends? let's get a move-on, please. >> because who's going to believe the fda about not needing a booster when they can't even say that this thing is approved yet? not many people are saying this, it's not that politically popular, but who cares? i hear it from too many people. they should get it done.

biden says he's going to do what he can. that's what he can do. let me ask you something else as i let you go. are those cds over your right shoulder in that rack? >> they are, yes. >> do you have any bee gees in there? >> i have all kinds of stuff, but i don't think i have bee gees. >> what? i'm crestfallen. >> i have a lot of country music. here in nashville. and jazz. >> of course you do. you're down in nashville and you're a man's man. all right, doctor, be well. always a pleasure. >> my pleasure. >> he's actually much more than just a man's man. he's a man for all seasons. he's a man of science. he's a man of letters. he's a man in full. all right. the gift that keeps giving. that's what my next guest is about. a real ameri-can. we must remind ourselves, we are more than the noise. we are more than the haters. this man is a gift who keeps giving gifts to others in need by doing what he can. ordinary creating the extraordinary. an ameri-can to remember. next.

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what can i do to help? i'm ordinary. you do what you can. and tonight's ameri-can is proof of just that. he's using what he is good at to do good for others in need. i want you to meet elliot middleton. former car mechanic. he did change professionals and now is a restaurant owner in south carolina. but here's the true soul food on his menu. on his days off, he takes in junk cars in return for some of his specialty bbq ribs, all right? love ribs. i'll be talking to him about that. what does he do? he takes the car, fixes it up and gives it away. 33 cars, 9 months. first of all, great rate. think about what that means for these people, for work, for

family. elliot joins us now. god bless, brother. thank you for what you're doing. tell us why you started. >> yes, sir. pretty much in 2019 it was a food drive that me and the mayor of andrews we conducted. andrews is a small town. we did the food drive. we had about 250 family boxes that we can provide for the area and once those boxes was gone, i did notice that there was a few people that wasn't able to get any. so i was walking out the door to try to tell them sorry we were out, and when i turned my head down the block, there were a lot of people still left. just distraught by the folks who couldn't receive the food. some of them turned around and started walking back. didn't go to cars or anything. and i caught up with some of them and i was like, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, is there anything i can do?

you need a hand? we had some elderly folks there. and they were like, no, i walked 3 miles to get to the food drive. and i said, i need to do something about this. and that's how it started. >> where did you get the idea that i'll trade you ribs for a wreck, and i'll fix it up and give it away? >> well, of course, with anything, a good trade-off would be great versus it going to the salvage yard. i figured the ribs would be a good pitch to let me have their cars instead of going to the salvage yard and you get a dinner plate of ribs on me. that started off and it took off after that. >> and they're giving you cars that -- where you don't -- you can get them to a place where they're going to pass inception and people feel good at it. how is it scales up in terms of what you've seen with what these cars mean to people in their lives? >> what i've seen is just a turn

of emotions, a turn of a lifestyle. they're able to do different jobs, go and seek jobs. all of this is really pretty much going on -- of course, the worldwide covid outbreak. when all of this happened, folks were losing jobs. they needed to be able to pay their bills and they couldn't. folks were losing their cars and homes and all that stuff. i've seen a lot from the car that is were donated up until this date as far as how it changed lives and just made people a little bit more comfortable, made people be able to go and search for jobs and reliable transportation for grocery shopping and medicines and hospital bills. hospital visits. >> i know it's ramping up. word is spreading and people want to help you and get you cars and you want to be able to help more people. there's a gofundme page, right? where can people find it and what is your hope?

>> yes, sir. my gofundme page is -- it's a -- you can go on facebook and it's under middleton's village to village foundation. that's the main page that we operate off of. this is all something that's just getting started as far as the page is concerned. you can go there and find the mail-in address and also just folks pitching in now. we have car carriers, different folks that are asking how can they help, what can they do? it was just me and one other friend who pretty much towed the cars, repaired the cars and got them to the family. but we're starting to get more people involved. we're starting -- people who just want to help. that's something that i didn't think was going to be on the broad span it is now.

but my logo and my pitch on my foundation is middleton's village to village. >> middleton's village to village. middleton's village to village. you have right now a goal of getting to 50 grand. you're going to get to 50. i'm going to tweet it out. you're going to have to pick a new goal because you're going to have more people to help. real quick, what's the secret? what's the difference between a good rib and a great rib? >> i tell you what, a good rib and a great rib, that's a tough question. because sometimes i sit there and i want my customers to experience it. sometimes they go off the wall. these are the best ribs i've ever had. other times, it's more like, let me try another piece. once they try another piece, they're like, this is awesome. the fried ribs is awesome.

they love picking choices and coming in and experiencing a good time at my restaurant. >> i love it. elliot middleton, thank you. i'm glad you're doing well and i'm impressed that you're doing good for people. god bless and thank you. >> thank you, sir. this may looke a regular movie night. but if you're a kid with diabetes, it's more. it's the simple act of enjoying time with friends, knowing you understand your glucose levels. ♪ why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number? because every new day starts the night before. "hi everyone" and a quality night's sleep is scientifically proven to help boost performance. the new sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing. and it helps keep you asleep by sensing your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. the sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now during our lowest prices of the season.

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thank you for watching and giving us the opportunity. it is now time for "don lemon tonight" with the upgrade, laura coates. >> chris cuomo, how are you doing tonight? better than i deserve. and you? >> i feel pretty good. i'll take your high road, better than i deserve. >> you're not me. you deserve good things. >> i don't believe that. we're all doing the west we can especially on a night like tonight. >> what's leading the show for