ryan, thank you very, very much. and to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. you can always follow me on twitter and instagram @wolf blitzer. you can tweet the show at cnn sit room and the situation room, by the way, is available in podcast form. look for us on cnn.com/audio or wherever you get your podcasts. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. outfront next. breaking news. republicans vote against averting a government shutdown and suspending the nation's debt limit as president biden sounds incredibly optimistic about his own party coming together to pass his agenda. but so few seem to share that optimism in his own party. plus, he is one of the nation's top constitutional lawyers and tonight he says trump troyed to stage a coup with a blueprint from a little-known lawyer. harvard law professor lawrence tribe is out front. and he is the expert on the nature preserve that investigators have been scouring for more than a week in the hopes of finding brian laundrie. he thinks there is no way that

laundrie is still in the preserve. we'll tell you why. let's go outfront. and good evening. >> i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, biden's rosy scenario. a scenario not shared by key members of his own party. right now, democrats are locked in a stalemate that could kill the president's legislative agenda. president biden, though, not letting that get him down. >> you know me. born optimist. i think things are going to go well. i think we are going to get it done. and -- but i have meetings tonight, tomorrow, and for the next little bit. well, it may not be by the end of the week. i hope it's by the end of the week. #. >> all right. here is the issue. right now, progressives in the president's own party are holding his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal hostage because they want to vote, first, on a $3.5 trillion spending plan.

it's a massive price tag. a plan, itself, hasn't yet been finalized but it says or they say it will include spending on, well, a whole lot of things, including free community college, free childcare, expanded medicare, a whole lot of things on climate change, and i am just, like, the tip of the iceberg here. this is not a small thing in dollars and it is a big change in the role of government in america. yet, progressives say they will kill the smaller bipartisan -- bipartisan, i keep emphasizing that word -- infrastructure bill if they don't get a vote, first, on this still-unfinished massive spending package. even the second-ranking democrat in the senate doesn't share biden's optimism. here's what senator dig durban said tonight when our manu raju asked him if he thinks an agreement on what the big bill will look like is possible by pelosi's thursday-vote deadline. >> well, joe biden does. but not yet another crucial democratic vote. senator joe manchin. he also does not share biden's

opt hisp. optimism. >> that's a heavy lift and you know there is a lot to do and lot to talk about. there is a lot in that bill. the 3.5 reconciliation bill, tax codes, climate change, social reforms. there is a lot and -- and -- and people need to know what's in it. so it's going to take a while. >> by the way, it's an understatement to say there is a lot in that bill. by the way, it should take a while, right? people should understand what's in it, not be rushing to write it really fast and then pass it in the dead of the night. that is -- that's not right. but as of tonight, pelosi is pushing ahead with a thursday vote on that smaller bipartisan bill even though the progressives in her party say that they are going to kill it if she does it first. >> let me just say we are going to pass the bill this week. i'm never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn't have the votes. >> so, either the speaker believes progressives will cave or she thinks people like joe manchin will quickly agree to the spending bill which, well, he's made clear he's not going to agree to the $3.5 trillion price tag. this is not a rosy scenario for

president biden right now. but still, biden summed it all up this way today. >> we got three things to do. the debt ceiling, continue resolution, and the two pieces of legislation. we do that, the country's going to be in great shape. >> just three things and the country is in great shape. except, moments ago, the country moved even farther away from one and two on the president's list. democrats needed ten republican votes and they did not get that. the final tally, 48-50. and as for those two pieces of legislation, well, i just laid it out. and let's just let, back to senator durban's words, it's not looking too rosy. manu raju is out front on capitol hill. look, manu, there is a lot here, right? just even substantively, there is so much talk about process when really there is a lot of substance here that should -- the american people should be given a lot of detail on they haven't been given yet.

is there any clarity tonight, though, on how pelosi is going to pull this off in terms of getting the bipartisan deal over the finish line? >> well, the bipartisan deal is still moving forward for that thursday vote. democrats just wrapped up a caucus meeting on the house side discussing their path forward. what's clear is they plan to have that vote on thursday still on that bill that passed the senate along bipartisan lines last month. what's less clear is whether there will be votes to actually approve it out of the house. also, what's unclear, what will happen to that larger plan to expand the social-safety yet. that price tag, initially, was $3.5 trillion but behind closed doors, pelosi had told her members today that that number has not yet been agreed to as joe biden is negotiating directly with senators about the way forward. also, she indicated because of senate rules, it may be changed in certain ways trying to warn her caucus that this could take some more time to get that larger bill through. well, the problem facing pelosi and the democratic leaders are that progressives are threatening to sink that

infrastructure bill if there is not at least some sort of commitment, a signoff from the key democratic senators over that larger plan. that couple of those senators, joe manchin, kyrsten sinema in particular there is a push to get them to back what this deal may ultimately look like. now, when i caught up with joe manchin this evening about those threats, he pushed back. >> would that pressure you to vote -- to support reconciliation bill, their threat to hold up infrastructure bill? would that be enough to pressure you to sign on to something? >> no, no, i'm not really good on threats. >> so he also made clear that he was not -- doesn't think it's really feasible to get a deal by thursday ahead of that key vote here, erin. so, a lot of questions still remaining about getting the two factions onboard to get this bipartisan deal through. the progressives are threatening could be more than 40 who vote to sink this, come thursday. we'll see if they ultimately stick to that but that is the real threat here for her leadership.

can she keep the factions together? can she get this through? uncertain, as of yet. >> thank you very much, manu raju. and i want to go now to the democratic congressman josh gottheimer. he is co-chair of the problem solvers caucus and a member of the house financial services committee. so, congressman, i am glad to have you back. so here we are. you were at the democratic caucus meeting tonight. so as you walk out here and come to this camera, do you have a clear idea on how all this will move forward? >> well, this is what i know. first of all, we had a very productive session as the democratic party tonight and i will tell you, the -- the big takeaway for me is that ultimately, we are going to get both bills done. but first and foremost, this week, we are going to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and we talked about this a few days ago. this is an historic once-in-a-century package focused on roads, bridges, fighting climate change, fixing tunnels like the one i have got between new york and new jersey, the gateway tunnel. there is so many things in here that are great for the country. 2 million jobs a year. and this week, we are going to vote on it, we are going to get it done. >> so you said -- okay, so you

said you are going to vote on it. get it done. that's good. that's the bipartisan infrastructure bill that you are referring to, right? um, and you issue -- you said yesterday -- i quote you, congressman, i just don't buy at the end of the day that folks will vote against it. of course, there are progressive members of your party who have said they will do that, right? if they don't get a guarantee on their much bigger plan. have you had any conversations with progressives that have directly told you that they really will vote against it? or do you feel confident that this vote on thursday, they will all vote yea? >> i think at the end of the day and i stand by what i said yesterday. i don't know anyone who can go -- any faction of the democratic party that can vote against the president's agenda, against 2 million jobs a year, hardworking men and women of laker, all these infrastructure packages are critical to the roads and dbridges and tunnels n their districts and helping fight climate change but i do believe we have to keep working as we, around the clock, erin, to your point on reconciliation to make sure we keep advancing the ball there. we have made incredible progress

and -- and i will tell you right now that i am behind getting something done on reconciliation. it's very important for the people i represent whether you are talking about fighting climate change or reinstating the state and local tax deduction or getting taxes down or childcare. there is so much in there that's important so that's why i believe, at the end of the day, that we are going to get both done. but you can't go in there and vote against -- i just don't see people going in and voting against working men and women of labor and -- and 2 million jobs a year and infrastructure. i just don't see that, at the end of the day. >> there is something -- some things, though, you know, you mentioned -- you mentioned salt. there are moderates like yourself who care about that. there are progressives -- um -- who don't at all to -- to put it nicely. um, according to "politico's" playbook, moderate democrats are frustrated that president biden has not done enough to pressure progressives and to -- to call them. and the -- the quote here they had was the president needs to pick up the phone and call people, a moderate source close to the talks told us. the person argued that the white house has been in listening mode

for too long and needs to bang heads to get this vote over the finish line this week. so, congressman, i know this is a tough question but do you feel like president biden is doing enough? or do you feel that he is somewhat afraid of the progressives? >> i'm -- he's made it pretty clear that he wants this bill to his desk, immediately. said that right after 69 senators voted for it, including -- >> yeah, but i'm -- i think we are talking about two different things. i'm sorry. >> i just want to get the answer to that. i know how much he wants this and my -- obviously, i don't know all the phone calls he is making but i will tell you i have spoken to the white house several times over the last days. i know how important it is to them and they keep stressing that, we get this done. and you know, they of course care about both bills. they are both critically important to the president's agenda, including this one we are going to vote on this week. so i have no doubt that they are going to keep pushing folks to get onboard because we all have to get there. you know, but again, i have heard directly from all the people around the president and the president in the oval office last week of how important this bill is to him and to the country.

>> okay. so um, one final question, congressman ro khanna was just on cnn earlier tonight. and he said we're going to respect and get behind our president. i think it's actually really hurtful to the democratic party that you don't have people showing the president respect. um, of course, the progressives have driven the legislation for the larger package. what do you say to someone who might say and i wasn't saying it to you personally but that moderates like yourself are disrespecting the president right now? >> i'm not trying -- ro is a good friend so i will talk to him about that. i think it'd be very disrespectful to vote against the president's bipartisan infrastructure package this thursday. that's why i really believe and frankly it'd be disrespectful to the country given how much we need infrastructure so -- so we are going to get that done and i think the best way we respect the country and respect everyone we represent is to work on both these packages, and keep making sure they both get across the finish line. i know i am committed to that and that's why first and foremost we got to get everyone

behind this bipartisan bill on infrastructure. the historic largest infrastructure in a century. let's get it done this week and make sure we keep working around the clock on reconciliation until that gets across the finish line, too. but they are two separate pieces of legislation. we should look at them as such. >> congressman, i appreciate your time. thank you so much. god to talk to you again. i want to go now to david axelrod, former senior adviser to president obama. look, david, i understand the congressman's saying he sees these as two separate things. and look, the much smaller one that's ready to go is a bipartisan deal. he is right about all that. but there are many in his party who see them as part and parcel. you don't get one, without the other. how do they get through this? >> yeah, there is no doubt the word of the day is leverage. everybody in a divided house almost down the middle and a divided senate exactly down the middle understand they have leverage and if joe manchin has taught them anything, it's that. that their -- their votes are meaningful and they are trying to leverage their votes for the

best package that they can get. and this is a headache for the speaker. it's a headache for the president, for chuck schumer. i -- i wonder, erin, whether mitch mcconnell has an unwittingly given them a little bit of a gift tonight by voting down the debt ceiling because that's something that everybody recognizes has to get done. you can't destroy the full faith and credit of the u.s. now, it has to go through the -- through the reconciliation bill. it's going to take a week or two to -- to incorporate that into the reconciliation bill. there are procedural reasons for that. um, and i wonder if, a, this makes it more urgent for everyone to get behind the reconciliation bill. and, b, whether it buys them a little bit of time. >> well, that's a really interesting point. thoughtful -- thoughtful analysis there. so, um, you know, i -- i do wonder, though, david, what you just make of the general point here of what progressives want,

right? they want a vote -- i mean, you know, this is what they are saying -- they want a vote on a massive spending bill that is transformational, right? whether you agree with it or not, it is transformational. that's why they want it. that's why the people who don't want it, don't. but they haven't even finished writing it and agreeing on it and they want to force a vote on it before anything else. you know, in some ways, that sounds quite toddleresque, okay? i'll be honest. why not more conversation here about the substance? >> i think, again, the -- the answer is leverage. they want to make sure that they get the best deal they can. and they know that there are people who may have a different view, senator manchin being one, on some of the elements of their package. >> yep. >> and so, they are holding that hostage. but um, look, at the end of the day, i think all democrats understand that if these two bills go down, it's not just the president who is going to be damaged. it's going to be disastrous for the party. and i have no doubt that people feel strongly about what they

are advocating for. and by the way, on the bill itself, a lot of the things that you are talking about were the things that the president advocated for months and months and months ago. so the details have to be spelled out but the essence of it has been out there for quite a while. i think they will get there. i don't think it's going to be a $3.5 trillion package. it's probably going to be in the 2s. and they need some assurance from manchin and sinema that -- that it's going to move forward. but, you know, this is the messy business of legislating and it's going to be a hairy week. but i think the stakes are so large, i believe they're going to get there. >> all right. david, thank you so much as always for your perspective. and next, the nation's top-constitutional law scholar saying unequivocally tonight that donald trump did try to stage a coup. and the former president is setting the stage for the next election fight. >> in truth, they're not after me. they're after you. i just happened to be in the

way. that's what's really happening. plus, cnn obtains new dispatch audio of police responding to a call about brian laundrie allegedly slapping gabby petito. and singer r. kelly found guilty of all counts in his sex trafficking trial which could mean decades behind bars for the once-thriving r&b superstar. -well, audrey's expecting... -twins! grandparents! we want to put money aside for them, so...change in plans. alright, let's see what we can adjust. ♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. okay. mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. lemme guess, change in plans? at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. bipolar depression. it made me feel like i was trapped in a fog. this is art inspired by real stories of people living with bipolar depression. i just couldn't find my way out of it. the lows of bipolar depression

can take you to a dark place... ...and be hard to manage. latuda could make a real difference in your symptoms. latuda was proven to significantly reduce bipolar depression symptoms and in clinical studies, had no substantial impact on weight. this is where i want to be. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor about unusual mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients on latuda have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, as these may be life threatening... ...or uncontrollable muscle movements, as these may be permanent. these are not all the serious side effects. now i'm back where i belong. ask your doctor about latuda and pay as little as $0 for your first prescription.

you booked a cozy vrbo mountain cabin. [laughs] with a kitchen where everyone can chef. [laughs] a family room where you can let your hair down. and a backyard that is a tree-lined living room. but the thing they'll remember forever? watching the game together once again. ♪ the time for getting back together is now. ♪ find it on vrbo. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ got a couple of bogeys on your six, limu. they need customized car insurance from liberty mutual so they only pay for what they need. what do you say we see what this bird can do? woooooooooooooo... we are not getting you a helicopter. looks like we're walking, kid. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

paul loves food. but his diabetes made food a mystery. everything felt like a “no.” but then paul went from no to know. with freestyle libre 14 day, now he knows how food affects his glucose. and he knows when to make different choices. take the mystery out of your glucose levels - and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us ♪ ♪ ♪ mom! mom! every day can be extraordinary with rich, creamy, delicious fage total yogurt. new tonight. the chair of the january 6th select committee saying more subpoenas will likely be issued

this week. this as the nation's top constitutional law expert says former-president trump had a blueprint to carry out a coup that day from a little-known lawyer named john eastman. eastman wrote a january 2nd memo laying out a six-step strategy for the former-vice president pence to overturn the election. and that strategy laid bare for the public to hear when eastman spoke at the january 6th rally. he did. he spoke there before the pro-trump mob stormed the capitol. just listen to this. >> we know there was fraud. we know that dead people voted. machines contributed to that fraud. they put those ballots in a secret folder in the machines. sitting there waiting until they know how many they need. all we are demanding of vice president pence is this afternoon at 1:00, he let the legislatures of the state look into this so we get to the bottom of it, and the american people know whether we have control of the direction of our government or not.

>> outfront now, lawrence tribe, constitutional law professor at harvard law school. so, professor, good to have you on, again. and i know you call this an attempted coup. not just in the general use of the word that so many have adopted but in a very specific way. you say eastman delivered the blueprint. um, so -- so, tell me why you now feel so confident that that is exactly the word which describes exactly what it was he was trying to do, and that that was trump's intention. >> well, there's no doubt from the information we now have about the meeting that trump was holding with people like giuliani and eastman shortly before the insurrection that we all saw on live television, that they were planning, step by step, to twist arms and pressure people, including building a gallows if necessary with pence's name on it in order to get the vice president to perform a role that the constitution doesn't assign the vice president. and that is, to discard the

votes of states that didn't accord with trump's plans. there were seven states that eastman said we were going to say had disputes about the election. there were no ongoing disputes. the electoral college voted indisputably on december 14th. it was the long-simmering plan carried out in great detail and there's nothing you can call it other than a coup. it was seditious conspiracy. that's the term that the u.s. criminal code uses. 18 u.s. code section 2384 and then it led to inciting an insurrection. it was all part of a long plan much more public than most coups that we see. and what worries me is that although they didn't succeed this time because pence wouldn't fold and they wouldn't do what he was being told to do.

next time around, we will have kamala harris. she is, obviously, not going to help trump steal the election. but they have another back-up plan and they have made it clear what it is. the back-up plan is to get states to disregard the votes of the people even after the suppression of votes and the counting by people who are partisans if it doesn't go their way, they are going to have state legislatures name -- and i have explained in this op-ed in the "boston globe" how that would be illegal but we can't simply sit back and watch all of the debates about the debt ceiling and the infrastructure plan and all of the rest, important though it is, we can't just let that go on while we go over the cliff and destroy our democracy. >> so, the former president is still on this, right? he was back in georgia this weekend. essentially, right, campaigning. continued to attack the

republican governor, brian kemp, for not helping him overturn the election in georgia. and that was not all that he said. i wanted to play this for you. >> when stacey abrams says i'm not going to concede, that's okay. no problem. oh, she's not going to concede. she's not going to concede. of course, having her, i think, might be better than having your existing governor. i bring voter fraud to the forefront in order to save our nation from corrupt elections. they say i'm being aggressive. but you have to be aggressive to weed out this horrible election corruption. we won on the arizona forensic audit yesterday at a level that you wouldn't believe. >> now, professor, i don't want to put aside the fact that he said -- that the very last thing he said, we won the arizona forensic audit. of course, it was n't an audit but to the extent it had a conclusion, it was actually

biden won by a larger margin in arizona than had originally been reported. right? and the reason i say that is that the president went to a rally and said the exact opposite, right? there are people who will never actually look at what the headline was from that -- that audit that was not an audit and they will just listen to what the president said. is there anything at this point that can be done to combat this message that trump is so successfully sending? >> he is an obviously very successful actor. tremendous delivering of an absolutely phony message. we don't have any actors on our side that are equivalent so we have to be vigilant with the truth. we have to fix up the election laws to make it much harder for them to steal elections. h.r.1, the first bill that the house of representatives put on the floor, h.b. 1 would protect

the franchise. the congress has ample powers. we have to use them. and the attorney general of the united states has to go after the conspirators, including the president, through the federal criminal laws. we can't simply expect the system to cure itself because his ability to lie -- absolutely lie through his teeth while people say, yeah, yeah, is extraordinary. and that's the way tyrants grab power. they propagate the big lie. people are -- their loyalty by pretending to believe it even if they know it's phony. and the result is that democracy is going to be very fragile and we need to, both, hold accountable those people who were involved in the coup and in the insurrection. and then, we have to fix the election laws to make sure that they are stronger than they now are. that's a very tall order.

but it's -- if we are going to survive as a democracy. >> certainly, not the way things -- things are going if you judge by the current legislation and its lack of progress. thank you very much, professor tribe. next, a florida rancher who is an expert on the nature preserve where investigators have been searching for brian laundrie. he is going to join me and he says there is no way laundrie is still there alive. so how does he know? well, i am going to ask him. and r. kelly forever branded a predator says an attorney after the r&b star is found guilty of sex trafficking. skin healthier in one day? - it's true jen. - really?! this nourishing prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. - one day? - for real! wow! aveeno®. healthy. it's our nature.™ and for twice the moisture, try the prebiotic oat body wash, too. i gotta say i'm still impressed. very impressed. ♪ when you hear 'cough cough sneeze sneeze' ♪

it's time for ♪ 'plop plop fizz fizz' ♪ alka seltzer plus cold relief, dissolves quickly... instantly ready to start working. so you can bounce back fast with alka-seltzer plus. want your clothes to smell freshly washed all day without heavy perfumes? try new downy light in-wash scent beads. it has long-lasting light scent, no heavy perfumes, and no dyes. finally, a light scent that lasts all day. new downy light!

(vo) how do you know when you've found your team? whether you're winning, or just doing your best. when you're on the lanes, they're right behind you. reunite with your team. go bowling.

tonight, new police dispatch audio obtained by cnn reveals utah police were told that brian laundrie hit gabby petito before they questioned the couple in mid-august. this as authorities say the manhunt for laundrie, which is now in its tenth day, will be, quote, scaled back and targeted based on intelligence. athena jones is outfront. >> reporter: the search for gabby petito's fiance brian laundrie entering a new phase. after teams spent days scouring the 25,000 acre carlton nature reserve near the family's home, no large scale search efforts

were apparent there on monday. the north port police spokesman telling cnn he expects the fbi-led search to be skcaled bak and targeted based on intelligence. fbi agents visiting the laundrie home on sunday. the fbi requested some personal items belonging to brian laundrie to assist them with dna matching. and brian's parents provided the fbi with what they could. laundrie and petito had set off on a cross-country road trip in her van in june. posting regularly on social media sites like youtube. >> 10:00 in the morning but it rained all afternoon yesterday. >> reporter: but laundrie returned home in petito's van without her on september 1st. her family reported her missing ten days later. laundrie's parents told north port police on september 17th that they had not seen him since september 14th when they say he left home with a backpack telling them he was headed to

the nearby reserve. meanwhile, cnn has obtained a dispatch audio recording related to an august-12th incident in moab, utah, in which police pulled laundrie and petito over for questioning after receiving a 9-1-1 call saying the pair were involved in some sort of altercation. the 9-1-1 caller told police he saw laundrie slapping petito. in the audio which has portions of personal information redacted, police used a shorthand rp for reporting party. >> do you have a phone number for the rp? maybe, just a landline and -- and location where our victim's at? >> phone number is -- i'm not sure but the female who got hit, they both -- the male and the female -- both got into the van and headed north. >> rp states a male hit a female domestic. he got into a white ford transit van. >> reporter: but during a more than hour-long traffic stop captured on body camera, petito told police she slapped laundrie. he told police he pushed petito

to try to keep her from hitting him again. >> had been fighting all morning and -- and he wouldn't let me in the car before. >> reporter: officers concluded the situation was the result of a mental-health crisis and suggested the two separate for the night. no charges were filed. brian laundrie has not been named a suspect in the homicide of 22-year-old petito. two separate rewards, totaling $30,000, have been offered to anyone who provides law enforcement officials with information on laundrie's whereabouts. erin. >> all right. athena, thank you very much. and now, i want to bring in alan mccuen, he is a florida rancher who's worked for 30 years near the nature reserve where police have been looking for brian laundrie and, of course, he has a deep knowledge of the area and has helped police in their search. so, alan, i really appreciate your time. and, you know, you know this area better than anyone. it's been nearly two weeks since brian left his family home. said he was heading to the nature reserve.

you know that nature reserve. is it possible he's still there alive? >> no, ma'am, not at -- not -- not in my thoughts, no way, not after two weeks being underwater the way it is with rain we've had. there's just no possible way. i don't even think he was there, to begin with. >> well, i mean, that is a crucial question here. i mean, tell me about it because you know and i have got some pictures coming up. but i mean, you know, you have spent 30 years around this. 25,000 acres of swampland, snakes, alligators. almost all of it, uninhabitable. um, but, you know, i know some people have said oh maybe brian was killed by wildlife but i know that you're not sure at all that that's the case. tell me why. >> well, for one, like i said, i have been here all my life. i've ran ranches around here. i've had cattle get loose over there from my place here. i've had to go over there and chase so i know that area pretty well. and right now, it's about 90%

underwater. but any animal that's not a reptile right now -- i don't care if it's a hog, deer, whatever, they've gone to higher ground. there's a lot of swampland over there. a lot of places you're going to sink. you know, there is not a lot of places that are dry except for maybe the main power line running through there and a few roads that are going on. but to survive in there with the mosquitoes and everything else and the wetness. i mean, there's very few dry spots in there. there's just -- there's no way. and the theory i hear that, you know, he's been eaten by a gator maybe or something like that. that theory's not going to happen right now. you know, you can -- we're not at a gated community where you can walk up to an alligator and say hello basically or feed him or anything. you get these gators in the woods. you walk up to them, 90% of them, they ran from you. they are going to scatter. they're more scared of you than you are of them.

and a gator to eat or take down a person or any animal of any size is going to take it down under the water and bury it. for 10 to 14 days before it even eats it, waits for it to get rotten. and we assume -- we hope nothing like that has happened to anybody here. but if it did, if they , you know, are using their infrared or night vision, whatever they are using, they would pick up that person. >> right. because it would -- it would be there and obviously -- yeah, they have it. >> it would be there and obviously. but the other thing is you got to look at there's no buzzards flying anywhere. whenever you see anything dead normally anywhere, the first thing you are going to see is a duz d buzzard in flight and they haven't seen any buzzards in flight anywhere. >> well, alan, i really appreciate your adding all of this -- this context because i think it's really important. people want to know and -- and, of course, most of us don't have in any way the sense that you do. so thank you so much. >> yes, ma'am.

appreciate you. thank you. and next, r&b star r. kelly could be going behind bars for decades after he was found guilty tonight on all counts in his sex trafficking trial. and the governor's race in virginia neck in neck tonight. the pro-trump republican candidate gaining momentum against a biden ally. >> the vaccine is -- is something that i believe people should be able to make their own decision on, not imposed on. and she's wearing my robe. mom: ahem ahem ahem we're out.

football, is a game of inches. but it's also a game, of information. because the nfl is connected. and at any moment, the fate of the season can come down to this. billions of secure connections, per second. when the game is on the line and the game is always on the line

touchdown! the nfl relies on cisco. - hi sabrina! - hi jen! hi. so you're the scientist here. i just have to ask. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? - it's true jen. - really?! this nourishing prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. - one day? - for real! wow! aveeno®. healthy. it's our nature.™ and for twice the moisture, try the prebiotic oat body wash, too. i gotta say i'm still impressed. very impressed. with quality that's guaranteed for life, bath fitter doesn't just fit your bath, it fits your high standards. why have over two million people welcomed bath fitter into their homes? it just fits. call now or visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation.

♪ i see trees of green ♪ ♪ red roses too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom for me and you ♪ (music) ♪ so i think to myself ♪ ♪ oh what a wonderful world ♪

tonight, a stunning fall. r. kelly guilty. a federal jury finding the r&b star guilty of all counts in a high-profile sex trafficking case that could put him behind bars for decades or even the rest of his life. outfront now, sonya who's been following the trial since the beginning. and so, sonya, you know, i know you are outside the brooklyn federal courthouse where all this happened. so the trial as i know was nearly six weeks long. tell me about it, what happened here, and how this outcome seemed to surprise r. kelly? >> yeah. well look, we heard from 50 witnesses during the course of this trial.

some of them were women who say they were underaged girls when they were sexually abused by r. kelly. they testified the singer knew their ages but had sex with them, anyway. in some cases, even recording these sexual encounters. and one victim we heard about from multiple witnesses was, of course, the late singer aaliyah who married r. kelly when she was just 15 years old. now, prosecutors showed a copy of aaliyah and r. kelly's marriage certificate. it lists aaliyah's age as 18 at the time of their august 1994 wedding and one witness had testified that he actually bribed a local state worker to get an i.d. for aaliyah to make her appear older than she was so she could marry r. kelly. the 20th anniversary of aaliyah's death fell right in the middle of this trial, erin. and we did hear from several employees and former-live-in girlfriends of r. kelly who testified about the strict rules he had for female guests at his home and recording studio. the women testified they had to ask for permission from r. kelly or his associates to simply leave a room if they wanted to

get food or even use the restroom. now, prosecutors say this was a method of coercive control that r. kelly used to control his victims. but defense attorneys say r. kelly was a man whose home was also his recording studio, and that he was simply trying to keep people safe in there. now, the first witness that we heard from in this trial was a woman named ja rhonda pace and shortly after the verdict, she took to instagram to say, quote, for years i was told for speaking out about the abuse that i suffered at the hands of that predator. i am thankful to expand with those who were brave enough to speak up. now, erin, we were not allowed inside that courtroom during most of this trial. in fact, it was only today as the verdict was read that we were allowed in there and we were able to see r. kelly's reaction when this verdict came down of the he was completely emotionless. keeping his eyes just straight forward, not moving at all. his defense attorney saying he was taken by surprise by this verdict. and that the team was disappointed. >> so what happens now? what are the next steps?

>> well, erin, there will be a sentencing in may for r. kelly but he still has several other trials ahead of him. he has a case in the northern district of illinois in chicago federal court as well as a state case in illinois and a state case in minnesota, as well. so his time in court is certainly not over right now. >> of course, all relevant to time behind bars, as well. thank you very much, sonya, who as i said has been covering this from the start. and next, the trump-backed republican candidate in the virginia governor's race gaining steam. and the gridlock in washington is helping him make his case. and one american citizen's cloak and dagger escape from afghanistan. what she didn't know? she was part of a secret-cia operation. >> i had no -- i -- being scared was not an option.

bipolar depression. it made me feel like i was trapped in a fog. this is art inspired by real stories of people living with bipolar depression. i just couldn't find my way out of it. the lows of bipolar depression can take you to a dark place... ...and be hard to manage. latuda could make a real difference in your symptoms. latuda was proven to significantly reduce bipolar depression symptoms and in clinical studies, had no substantial impact on weight. this is where i want to be. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor about unusual mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients on latuda have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, as these may be life threatening... ...or uncontrollable muscle movements, as these may be permanent. these are not all the serious side effects. now i'm back where i belong. ask your doctor about latuda and pay as little as $0

for your first prescription. ♪ downy's been taking you back, since way back. with freshness and softness you never forget. feel the difference with downy. ♪ ♪ i can turn anyone into a beach bum. i bring families together for a living. i make memories for people i don't know yet. i know this view is too good not to be shared. i am a vrbo host. ♪ ♪ who's on it with jardiance? we're 25 million prescriptions strong. we're managing type 2 diabetes... ...and heart risk. we're working up a sweat before coffee. and saying, “no thanks...” ...to a boston cream.

jardiance is a once-daily pill that can reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who also have known heart disease. so, it could help save your life from a heart attack or stroke. and jardiance lowers a1c. jardiance can cause serious side effects including... ...dehydration, genital yeast or urinary tract infections, and sudden kidney problems. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. a rare, but life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away... ...if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection, ...ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction, ...and don't take it if you're on dialysis. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. lower a1c and lower risk of a fatal heart attack? we're on it. we're on it. with jardiance. ask your doctor about jardiance.

tonight, a major warning sign for democrats. the nonpartisan cook political report, one of the most reliable predictor of races across the country, moving virginia's governor's race from leaning democrat to as toss-up. despite president biden carrying the state by ten points so that's a big deal. is the trump-backed republican candidate gaining steam because of the democratic stalemate in washington? jeff zeleny is out front. >> i'm tired of people sitting around doing chitty chat. let's pass these bills and let's lift up our families. >> reporter: terry mcauliffe is sounding the alarm. fearful that the messy stalemate

in washington could spell trouble for him and his fellow democrats. >> you know what the states are. >> reporter: he is running for a second act as virginia's governor. but he is facing stronger-than-expected headwinds and potential fallout from a deep democratic divide. threatening to derail president biden's sweeping economic agenda. >> we control the house, the senate, and the white house. we need this infrastructure. i can tell you, as a former governor, it is absolutely critical for our bridges and roads so let's get it done. quit talking. >> reporter: his november race could offer clues for the democratic party's prospects of keeping control of congress in next year's midterm elections. with early voting already underway, he's locked in a tight contest with this republican businessman. >> all right. who's ready for a new governor? >> reporter: glenn youngkin is a former private equity executive trying to appeal to voters as an outsider. >> it's no longer republicans against democrats. this is about virginians standing up and saying no!

this left liberal progressive agenda which have been trying to turn us into california east, virginians are saying no more. >> reporter: as youngkin tries to turn the race into a referendum on biden's democratic agenda, mcauliffe is working to make it all about the man who still fires up democrats like few others can. >> donald trump wants to use this election to begin his comeback in this country. he said it. he's endorsed my opponent four times. >> reporter: for the next five weeks, the virginia contest offers a window into the lingering power of trump who believes youngkin should embrace him more. >> the only guys that win are the guys that embrace the maga movement. does that make sense to you? >> yes. >> reporter: but also, serves as a test of biden's standing after a summer of setbacks. >> is he making your race more complicated for you? >> listen. you always hope the president of your party is 20 points up. of course, you would. but this is my race. it's not president biden's race. this is my race. >> reporter: yet, mcauliffe is a

biden democrat. >> it's great to be with my friend and your once and future governor, terry mcauliffe. >> reporter: and he's embracing biden's vaccination mandates which youngkin opposes. >> but the vaccine is -- is something that i believe people should be able to make their own decision on, not imposed on. >> reporter: a year after biden carried the state by ten points, mcauliffe is warning democrats against complacency. >> this is a big race for the country. i think this race sends a signal that the democrats going into '22, there is some wind behind their back i think. >> reporter: now, democrats have many advantages here. the commonwealth of virginia has been trending democratic for the last several presidential elections. but it's not nearly as blue as, say, california where governor gavin newsom won big earlier-this month. so, erin, there is no question there is an early bellwether for those 2022 midterm elections and mcauliffe tells me he is intentionally trying to sound the warning signal.

he believes that the party's ability to govern in washington will be judged by voters in all parts of the country. >> all right. thank you very much, jeff zeleny. and next, unnamed u.s. government officials whisking an american woman in afghanistan to safety. but what she didn't know was it was a secret cia operation. wait till you see the story. she'll revisit her plan with fidelity. and with a scenario that makes it a possibility, she'll enjoy her dream right now. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. (jackie) i've made progress with my mental health. so when i started having unintentional body movements called tardive dyskinesia... i ignored them. but when the twitching and jerking in my face and hands affected my day to day... i finally had to say, 'it's not ok.' it was time to talk to my doctor about austedo. she said that austedo helps reduce td movements in adults... while i continue with most of my mental health medications. (vo) austedo can cause depression, suicidal thoughts,

or actions in patients with huntington's disease. pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, behaviors, feelings, or have suicidal thoughts. common side effects include inflammation of the nose and throat, insomnia and sleepiness. don't take austedo if you have liver problems, are taking reserpine, tetrabenazine, or valbenazine. austedo may cause irregular or fast heartbeat, restlessness, movements mimicking parkinson's disease, fever, stiff muscles, problems thinking, and sweating. (jackie) talk to your doctor about austedo...it's time to treat td. td is not ok. visit askforaustedo.com. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ got a couple of bogeys on your six, limu. they need customized car insurance from liberty mutual so they only pay for what they need. what do you say we see what this bird can do? woooooooooooooo... we are not getting you a helicopter. looks like we're walking, kid. only pay for what you need.

♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ when you hear 'cough cough sneeze sneeze' ♪ it's time for ♪ 'plop plop fizz fizz' ♪ alka seltzer plus cold relief, dissolves quickly... instantly ready to start working. so you can bounce back fast with alka-seltzer plus. in business, it's never just another day. it's the big sale, or the big presentation. the day where everything goes right. or the one where nothing does. with comcast business

you get the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it— all backed by a dedicated team, 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities.

tonight, a u.s. citizen flees afghanistan with the help of strangers. only to learn later she was part of a secret cia operation. this is a story and alex marquardt is outfront with it. >> reporter: shaqaiq birashk was in her apartment when she got a call from an american. >> and i said who is this? he said i'm a government -- u.s. government official. >> reporter: no details about who he worked for? >> no, nothing at all. >> reporter: the american wanted her to leave afghanistan. the historic evacuation was underway and she was in danger. just days before the phone call, she was filming taliban fighters just below her balcony. >> so, they are here. >> reporter: she told the u.s. official she didn't want to leave on her own. she wanted to bring afghans with her. >> he said well my priority is you. i understand that you're -- you feel this responsibility towards the people that you have worked with. but unfortunately, my priority is you. >> reporter: she's an afghan american who worked for the

afghan government and on a u.s.-funded project. she was born in afghanistan and moved to the u.s. at 13 years old. she returned as an adult, spending most of the past-four years working with local organizations. hours after getting the call from the mysterious official, she changed her mind after a friend who was evacuated convinced her. >> i got my pass port, and then i just head downstairs. >> reporter: a driver in a to toyota corolla picked her up just tell me where you are and i will help, the american texted. she shared her location as they drove through the dark and taliban checkpoints. >> taliban members came and just smacked the front of the car and, you know, kind of waved at us and said don't move, stop here. and then, our driver was like i'm not going to listen to him. >> reporter: the american official was tracking them. i see you, he texted. just follow the road until you see a gas station. then, you will see my guys. >> i wasn't scared because i wasn't -- i didn't have the time to be scared. i had no -- i -- being scared

was not an option. >> reporter: they went the wrong way. the american texted, you missed the left turn. around midnight, they finally arrived at eagle base, a cia base just east of kabul located by "the new york times" where helicopters were ferrying people inside to the airport. she was met by afghan special forces and then americans, including the american guiding her. >> i had mentioned his name and i said is that you? he said yes that's me. and then, there was a sigh of relief at that point that i knew that we have made it. you know, there is no more checkpoints. >> reporter: on the base, their phones were taken away. they were asked not to reveal the base's location. the next day, they were flown to kabul airport and out of the country to safety. what do your friends and colleagues who are still in kabul, still in afghanistan telling you about what they think the future is going to look like? >> they continuously say life -- um, afghanistan is now a body without a soul. seeing the way that everything that they had worked for the past 20 years has been just shattered in front of their own eyes. the promises of the

international community, never leaving them behind and now they are left with nothing. >> reporter: now at home in denver, she says she and others like her are suffering from survivor's guilt. >> to this day, i am still processing the information and processing the reality on the ground. it just feels like it's a ongoing nightmare that, you know, i haven't been woken up from. >> reporter: alex marquardt cnn, denver. >> incredible story. thanks so much to all of you. it's time now for anderson. another piece of evidence tracing the journey of gabby petito and the disappearance of her fiance who remains at large. dispatch audio from the day the couple fought and police were called. the letter rp, you will hear, stands for the reporting party. >> do you have a phone number for the rp maybe just a landline and location of where our victim's at? >>