baaam. internet that doesn't miss a beat. that's cute, but my internet streams to my ride. adorable, but does yours block malware? nope. -it crushes it. pshh, mine's so fast, no one can catch me. big whoop! mine gives me a 4k streaming box. -for free! that's because you all have the same internet. xfinity xfi. so powerful, it keeps one-upping itself. can your internet do that? news continues. let's turn things over to don and "don lemon tonight." this is "don lemon tonight." thanks for joining us, everyone. and so, here's the question on -- that everyone on capitol

hill is asking right now. everyone -- so, now what? what happens now? right? all of the sudden, we were in this big deadline. what are we going to do? the deadline is coming. can nancy pelosi do this? can the president? mitch mcconnell. and so, there was a day of high drama, right? we are waiting on the edge of our seats since last night for a vote that did not come. the president going to capitol hill to plead the case for his agenda with members of his own party. progressives digging in their heels. so, what happens now? president joe biden's agenda. the promises he made to the american people, the agenda that got him elected really hanging in the balance. >> i'm telling you, we're going to get this done. it doesn't matter when. it doesn't matter whether it's in six minutes, six days, or six weeks, we're going to get it done. >> so, so much for house speaker

nancy pelosi's self-imposed deadline. they blew by last night. in a dear-colleague letter tonight, the speaker says, and i quote here, while great progress has been made in the negotiations to develop a house, senate, and white house agreement on the build back better act, more time is needed to complete the task. obviously, right, because it's not done. the president vowing democrats will overcome their differences. several lawmakers telling cnn, behind closed doors, the president said the top-line number where they are looking to find agreement is somewhere between 1.9 trillion and $2 trillion. #. >> the practice said we got to get both of them done. so it doesn't sound like there is going to be a vote today. he basically said two things. one -- sorry -- it's not going to be 3.5. maybe, 2, 2 instead of 3.5. so he said that. and then, the other thing he basically said we need to pass both of them.

>> so, there you go. somewhere between 1.9 and $2 trillion. congressman mike quigley telling cnn the president said if members are too dug in, they risk getting nothing. but he emphasized, and i quote here, this was an olive branch, not demanding. so, congresswoman pramila jayapal, the chair of the progressive caucus, telling anderson just a few minutes ago this. >> i think we're going to have to get to a number that all 50 democrats and all -- in the senate -- and all of us in the house agree to. and um, it -- it -- you know, 3.5 was our number. we're going to go back and see what we can do on that because we understand. we got to get everybody onboard. >> yes, and tonight, sources telling cnn that house republicans who were previously planning to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill are now rethinking their votes after biden's visit to the hill today. you knew that was going to happen. so that was the question when i was asking everybody last night and they were so hopeful about

this saying they were going to get together. when i was asking democrats, what about governing for democrats? doesn't that raise questions about governing? that was my point. and so, now, republicans are saying, eh, maybe, the ones who were going to support it are saying maybe we won't now. so like i said, the question is what happens now? and in the middle of all of this, the debt ceiling still looming. i mean, this is where the urgency should be, as well. maybe, the number-one priority until this is done. and then, focus on the other parts of the agenda. but a house passed bill is scheduled for a vote next week in the senate where mitch mcconnell has vowed there will be no republican help on the debt. and that means there is a very real danger that the united states could default if congress doesn't take action before october 18th. it's all just a cynical political game really. republicans are determined to force democrats to go it alone.

white house press secretary, jen psaki, naming and shaming republicans playing politics with the debt. >> republicans in congress are treating this like a game. let me give you some examples. senator rick scott and this is a real quote, i will note. this is going to be a ball. i am going to have so much fun. that's about the debt limit. senator kevin kramer, it's sort of fun to watch. and senator cornyn said yesterday that republicans would use every tool at their disposal to slow democrats from doing this on their own. >> that as americans are facing some very real, serious, real-world consequences if the country does default. okay? the real issues. nearly 50 million seniors could be left holding the bag if social-security payments are held up. the stock market would, no doubt, plummet. mortgage rates would rise. and we could lose millions of jobs. and in the face of all of that, mitch mcconnell's hypocrisy is right out there for all the world to see. refusing to vote for something

he has voted for 32 times, in the past. >> i think the -- the debt ceiling legislation is a time that brings us all together. >> in the case of the debt limit, we need to act quickly, given the new uncertainty from the large cost of the storm recovery. secretary of the treasury, the -- senator schumer and i had a good meeting this morning in my office to discuss the raising of the debt ceiling which we all know will need to be done. sometime in the next month or so and we are going to be looking for a way forward to do that, together, to make sure america continues to never, ever default. >> it's time that we got serious on a bipartisan basis to try to work this out, and not have the kind of chaos that goes along with our inability to come together on these kind of important issues. you may or may not recall, i said that during the years when i was the leader of the minority in the senate, i don't think

there's any chance we'll allow the country to default. >> okay. so, um, he said well we need to do it because of storm recovery. aren't we recovering from storms now? millions of people in this country, recovering from storms. my own family in louisiana. so now, what's different? never, ever default, he said. america will never, ever default on its debt. what happened to that? it's time we get serious about bipartisan efforts to work this thing out. where is that this time? wha what's different about that, mitch mcconnell and republicans? what is different? that's how cynical, how toxic our politics have become. and then, there is the literal toxicity of anti-vax rhetoric in the face of mandates all across this country. so, california is now the first state in the nation to require covid vaccinations for students.

great, california. i said it. supreme court justice sonia sotomayor denying a request to block the city's mandate for public school employees. it went into effect just about five hours ago. and we are inneror learning justice brett kavanaugh has tested positive for covid-19. all the other justices have tested negative, and the court says that justice kavanaugh will participate in next week's oral arguments remotely, from home. meanwhile, we learned this week -- we have been talking a lot about the nba. they have been in the news this week. we have learned this week that unvaccinated nba players who don't comply with local-vaccination mandates won't get paid for games that they miss. okay. golden state warriors' star, draymond green, says that he won't push his teammates to get vaccinated. >> we're dealing with something that, to me, feels like has turned into a political war. um, when -- when you talking

about a vaccination and nonvaccinated, i think it's become very political. you said we live in a land of the free. well, you're not giving anyone freedom because you're making people do something, essentially. that goes against everything that america stands for. >> draymond green, that's actually wrong. that doesn't go against -- and i am going to tell you why it doesn't go against everything that america stands for -- it actually goes along with what america stands for. with what has already been decided by the highest courts in the land when it comes to vaccines and mandates. okay? so, with all due respect to draymond green, this is about public health. we just passed the grim milestone of 700,000 deaths from covid in this country. 700,000 dead americans. 700,000 dead americans from covid. and now, the vast majority of the people that we are losing

are unvaccinated. this is about stopping a virus that is killing us. it's not about feelings. this is not about freedom or liberty, people who have that wrong. no matter how loudly people yell about it. >> we have our freedom all the way and that's what we love. >> so, let me just, for, you know, people who are going to say, well, i can't believe don lemon is calling out the nba and draymond or conservatives or whatever. it's -- okay, so, i'm used to that. it doesn't bother me. so, save it. or do it. i don't care. i don't even look at it. okay. so, this is a little history lesson for you. okay? in the early 1900s when smallpox was running rampant, a man named henning jacobson refused to be vaccinated. he took his case all the way to the supreme court where justice john marshal harland delivered

the decision. writing quote in every well-ordered society charged with the duty of conserving the safety of its members, the rights of the individual in respect of his liberty may at times under the pressure of great dangers be subject to such restraint to be enforced by reasonable regulations as the safety of the general public may demand. so, it is not about liberty. it's not about freedom. it is about public health. >> have you guys gotten vaccinated? >> nope. >> no. >> won't do it. >> can i ask why? why you chose not to? >> i'm allergic to a lot of things in the -- the chemicals and stuff like that. and freedom. you -- you get to choose. if you can have an abortion and choose your body, i should be abl able to choose if i get a shot. >> has already been tested, as well. because in previous cases in history where people refused,

they were fined even if they said they had a health issue about it. in 1922, the court upheld a san antonio ordinance that prohibited anyone from attending a public or private school without a certificate of smallpox vaccination. so, like i said, this is not about feelings. it's not about freedom. what kind of freedom do people want when they say they are not getting vaccinated because they believe in freedom? do they want the freedom to get sick? do they want the freedom to be hospitalized or worse? do they want the freedom to be lying in an overcrowded hospital? struggling for every breath? do they want that freedom for the people they love? to be infected with a deadly virus? what kind of freedom is that? don't do it. but then, don't expect to be able to do what everybody else does, the people who are

vaccinated. but i want to go back to the question i asked at the top of the show. so, now what, right? what happens now? with a whole lot of things. president biden's agenda is still hanging in the balance. he is vowing democrats will overcome their differences. but should he have gotten involved sooner? >> our position is exactly the same as the president's which is we are going to get both these bills done. and we are going to send them to the president's desk, and it will take us a little bit of time to negotiate. this is the planning effect. if you ask suzie about the future, she'll say she's got goals. and since she's got goals, she might need help reaching them, and so she'll get some help from fidelity, and at fidelity, someone will help her create a plan for all her goals, which means suzie will be feeling so good about that plan, she can just enjoy right now. that's the planning effect, from fidelity.

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so, now what? what happens now? bold promise from president biden on the future of his domestic agenda in the middle of deep divisions in his own party. the president vowing democrats will pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a sweeping social safety net package, no matter how long it takes. the house speaker nancy pelosi saying in a later -- in a letter, excuse me, tonight -- that they need more time for negotiation. so joining me now, cnn senior political analyst, ron brown st brownsteen and executive producer of the circus on showtime, mr. mark mckinnon. i mean, that letter was like, duh, of course, we need -- you

know? yeah. here's what's happening. we need more time. good evening, gents. so, ron, so the president, you know, went to capitol hill. he is trying to rally the troops. you heard from biden. he is pledging that this is going to get done, regardless of the timeline. but this has been a really messy process. i hope -- maybe -- maybe, i'm not categorizing that right. but um, i don't know. or characterizing, excuse me, properly. and then, there is still the big divide here. is the president right? will it happen? >> you would think that it will happen for the reason that we have talked about all the way throughout. that it's really not in anyone's interest, in the democratic party, to have it completely collapse. but, don, this is tough. they are trying to make great change on a slender majority to borrow a phrase from thomas jefferson. and that is difficult. you know, in the 20 -- in the 21st century, it -- because the country is so deeply and stably div divided it's been really hard for either party to generate any kind of significant cushion in

the senate. there's only been three senates in this century where one party has had at least 55 seats. right now, democrats only have 50 and you are seeing the pains of that. we should be reminded that in 19 -- in 2017, republicans only had 51 and they ultimately failed on one of their two big goals which was repealing the aca because they couldn't hold everybody together. in the end, i still think they will find a way to get this done. but, you know, in a 50-50 senate, every senator is a king. and manchin is sinema, in particular, sure enjoy that power. >> hey, before i get to mark, do you think they will get it done because there's word that they are -- they are losing the few republicans' support that they -- they had or supporters that they had. >> yeah. right. i mean, seem almost inevitable, right? this whole problem solvers caucus is melting away at the end of republicans. they might have single-digit republicans supporting this. the -- the issue isn't really the republicans in the house. it's whether the -- the house and it's not just the

progres progressives. it's really the broad range of the party in both chambers. the vast, vast majority of democrats in both chambers can reach agreement with manchin and sinema on an acceptable number for the reconciliation bill, which is the core of biden's agenda. and let's not forget, the only reason that so much is being weighted on this one bill is because because it's the only way to avoid a filibuster. so many other things that democrats care about -- immigration, police reform, lgbtq rights, gun control, potentially voting rights -- are all hung up on the filibuster. and this is their one chance around it for other parts of the agenda so letting this go down would be an enormous kind of self-inflicted wound by democrats. and that's why, in the end, you still have to bet they would find a way to do it. >> i think the -- the technical term for it is dumb. mark, do you disagree with that? >> no, listen. they either hang together or hang separately. that's for sure. having worked on both sides of the aisle, the one thing that is a he clear to me is that when

republicans get orders, they salute and march. when democrats get orders, they jump in a mosh pit. i mean, it's just the way it is because they are a party of a thousand constituencies and we saw that in sharp relief this week. although, at the end of the day, a year from now if there is a -- if there is a reconciliation bill with a lot of the human infrastructure and infrastructure bill are done, voters won't care when it was done but i also think that -- >> mark, real quick. voters won't care when it was done but also for the -- you know, the sinemas and the manchins of the world or whomever, or even -- even for the progressives. let's just say for the progressives in the house. are their voters going to care that it was 3.5 or 2.9? is that really going to matter to them? >> i don't think the number is significant but it depends what gets stripped out of the package. if it's childcare gets stripped out, yeah, voters, a lot of con st stitch wents will be upset. >> i'm good. >> yeah, i'm good. >> okay.

>> can i just say there may be a political win-win in here because the most logical way to shrink this down is phase out many of these programs, rather than stripping them out altogether. and that means you could run in 2024 on reauthorizing and continuing ideas like universal pre-k and the children's tax credit and paid-family leave. so, there may be kind of, you know, a logical way out of their impasse. you can cut the cost and may double down on the political benefit by -- by phasing out the timing on how you implement these -- these ideas. most of which are individually popular in polling. >> well, mark, that was my point last night where i said to -- um -- you know, members of the -- of the progressive wing. like, what -- you know, if you are not in power, katie porter, then what does it all matter? i mean, can you -- the point is to stay in power. and then, you go back to your constituents and say, you know, this is america, this is how the government works. we need more time. we have more power. we'll have more influence and to be able to continue on doing what we're doing now. >> well, that's exactly right. >> double dip. >> and, you know, i mean, this

has shown that the progressive wing of the party is really flexing its muscles but i'm not really sure that's where most americans are. and if the package is too big and -- and too broad, i think that's problematic for 2022 but i think ron brownstein has a smart idea and democrats ought to listen to that advice. >> yeah. so what do you think -- what kinds of things are you expecting to see cut back to get to the price tag, mark? because you said, you know, it doesn't matter if it's 2.5 or 3, it's what's in it. so what do you see getting cut back? >> i think the -- the dental/vision component for elderly americans could go easily. i think the community-college piece could go. i this those -- those are a couple -- the first couple things that come to my mind. >> and what about you, ron? >> well, like i said, i think the logic is less to remove things, entirely, than to kind of play with how long they are -- they're in place. and -- and try to in some ways take the most popular items like the child-tax credit, universal pre-k, perhaps, some of the healthcare and childcare subsidies. and phase them out as a way to

both save money but also to give you a double dip because you can run in 2024 and say, look, this monthly payment you are receiving from the child-tax credit that's helping you kind of make ends meet and buy sneakers for your kids. that's on the ballot. and that's why you need to maintain a democratic congress, both, in 2022 and -- and a president in 2024. but i also agree that the medicare expansion will probably be cut back. don't forget, they are trying to do two different things here of the it is the biggest increase in public investment since the eisen how eisenhower era. and they are trying to do them both at once in one bill which is kind of crazy but it is the only way around the filibuster. just more evidence of how much the filibuster is distorting the way congress works in this modern polarized world. >> there is agreement from everyone here i see. i want to play terry mcauliffe. he is the gubernatorial candidate. going after democrats in congress. here it is. >> i say do your job.

you got lelelected to congress. we, in the states, are desperate for this infrastructure money. i work in a bipartisan way, every single day. we get things done every single day. and people got to stop the posturing. they should spend less time talking to the press. and they ought to spend more time in a room figuring out how they are going to help us out here. >> so, mark, terry mcauliffe is in the middle of a campaign. terry mcauliffe is no novice at this. he knows what voters want. the infighting causing democrats to -- i'm wondering if it's causing them to miss the bigger mi picture because there is no room for dissent. there is no room for people peeling off or, you know, going the other way on the republican side. each minute longer, they stand to do that. is a possibility. >> well, terry mcauliffe is exhibit a of the potential, you know, collateral damage of what's going on right now. he is in a very tough race in -- in this governor's race in virginia. and you can see a little bit note of desperation there.

he needs the democrats to deliver right now. he can't wait. >> yeah. and he can't. and um, look. and terry mcauliffe is also an example of where the democratic -- where most of the democratic party is. where they actually win elections. mark, the upcoming episode of the circus is all about this. this is a clip featuring progressive caucus chair, pramila jayapal. here it is. >> we are here to make transformative change for people in a moment of tremendous crisis. we are here to deliver on climate change. we are here to deliver on healthcare. we are here to deliver on paid leave and childcare so women can get back to work. we are not going to leave people behind. >> but i just mean in terms of the broader negotiations. i mean, are you confident that if infrastructure doesn't get a vote coming out of this, you can have a real conversation with the joe manchins and that biden can have a real conversation? >> well hopefully, he understands that he is not the only one that has power with a slim majority. >> yeah. i think -- mark, i think you said it. i don't know. both of you probably said it but

the progressives are flexing their muscles in ways that we haven't seen before. but you said that biden was elected to be the center. so what's that dynamic going to look like for the rest of his presidency? >> yeah, listen. i mean, first of all, kudos to congresswoman jayapal. she's done a really outstanding job and she's been a very effective member of congress. but to your point, i mean, bernie sanders was not elected president. joe biden was and there was a reason he was elected president. and, you know, at the end of the day, if -- if the democrats want to win the midterms, which is a big challenge already for 2024, they got to remember why joe biden was elected in the first place. >> gents, thank you. ron, friday. friday, you got to work on the hat game. and you got to work on the friday no-tie friday. >> yeah. yeah. i'm in l.a. i'm all for it. >> it's no-tie day, friday. >> all right. >> thank you. i appreciate it. so listen. we need to talk about what's happening with the gabby petito case. there are new reports of brian

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just miles from a major hiking trail. plus, new information about his family's camping trip days before he went missing. joining me now, former-fbi assistant director, chris swecker. chris, good evening to you. so, let's see. this county sheriff, north carolina, tells cnn that they are getting these tips about the alleged sightings of brian laundrie in that area. so, i know you know this area. what can you tell us about it? and is this the type of place that brian could stay undetected for a long period of time? >> don, i do know the area well. i was a special agent in charge in north carolina for five years. and i actually went to undergraduate school up there. i know the law enforcement and i -- agents up there and the sheriff. and i think, you know, they -- they -- they're very much on their toes based on these leads. but they -- they have not been corroborated. they're -- they're not very specific. nothing has been developed, that i know of, that -- that would actually place him up there. now, it's not illogical that he would be on the appalachian

trail or somewhere in a place like that. i wouldn't discount it completely. but he's also been seen in the bahamas, mexico, canada, alabama, and a bunch of other locations. he's been spotted more than elvis. >> or tupac. so, listen. this case has been such a social-media phenomenon. do you think that these kinds of tips are -- are going to help solve it? >> these kinds of tips can be very beneficial. but they're really, really pain -- it's a pain -- pain -- it's a -- it's a difficult task. >> painstaking. >> yes, thank you. >> it's friday. i get it. trust me. >> it's just tough to go through all these leads. you got to have a lot of people working on it. what's corroborated? what isn't? what's specific? what isn't? and it just takes a long time to sift through it. now, there are gems in there. but you really have to dig to find 'em. >> yeah. so i want to play some -- this is some new footage. it's from the incident in utah.

police officers tell gabby that witnesses have reported that they saw brian hit her. here it is. >> can i see the other side of your face? so what happened here and here? >> um, i -- i'm not sure. i was just trying to get in the back of the car. >> so the backpack got ya? so there's two people that came to us and told us that they saw him hit you. there's two people saying that they saw him punch you. which is independent witnesses by moon flower. where'd you hit him? >> i slapped him. >> you slapped him first? and then, just on his face? how many times did you slap him? >> a couple. >> and then, what? his reaction was to do what? he just grabbed ya? >> yeah. >> so, when you watch this video, chris, what do you --

what do you take away from that? and -- and should someone have been arrested that day? >> yeah, it's heartbreaking, don. i -- two witnesses said that she was slapped on the sidewalk near the -- near the cafe. um, she said she was slapped. and then -- or she was grabbed and grabbed her face or -- or hit her. something to that effect. i -- i've said all along this was an incident of domestic violence. she appeared in -- in my view to be the captive in a sense. he was sort of the dominant one. he was doing most of the talking. she's very subservient, you could tell. pretty classic domestic violence. i think this fits into the overall picture of what they're looking at for the homicide -- potential homicide charge. it's a building block. and i -- and i think there's a lot of other evidence, as well. so, i'm convinced he's going to get caught. i'm more focused on the homicide investigation, and the building of the case against him. >> you know, we have learned that brian laundrie's mother,

roberta, cancelled camping reservations for two people at the florida park on august 31st and made new reservations for three people at the same park on september 3rd, two days after brian returned home. what question does that raise for you? >> it raises the question that -- to me with a good amount of investigative experience and i think others in the same boat -- was he with -- did they know that this -- her -- she was going to be reported missing? he obviously knows what happened. he's planning ahead for his, you know, for his escape, if you will. or going on the run. are they staging supplies? are they getting out of the -- out of the -- the harsh view of neighbors? and getting to a place where they can privately set up and stage what's gonna happen next? and that -- that -- that's the only explanation i can come up with in terms of why they went to that campground. why the timing of when they were there, as well. >> chris swecker, thank you.

this won't be the last time we discuss this, unfortunately. thank you very much. appreciate it. is there a new way to fight coronavirus? a brand new pill could change everything. stay with us.

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a q&a with me! join for free on the xfinity app. our thanks your rewards. so, breaking just moments ago, it's really a grim milestone. the u.s. passing the heartbreaking milestone of 700,000 deaths from covid-19. all 700,000 memorialized on the national mall. there it is right there. um, that as california, the most populous state in the nation becomes the first to mandate the covid vaccine for students who want to attend school in person. and merck announces an antiviral drug that will cut the risk of covid hospitalizations and death by 50%. that's according to the company. so, also tonight, american airlines announcing that they will have a vaccine mandate for their workers.

so, let's break it down now with dr. peter hotez. he is co-director at the texas children's hospital center for vaccine development. good evening, sir. appreciate you joining us. we got a lot to talk about, actually. so, we have this sobering milestone, 700,000 deaths from covid. more than any other country. so many of these deaths were preventable. what's your thoughts? >> don, it's -- i'm especially thinking about the last 100,000 deaths which occurred during this delta wave over the summer despite the widespread availability of safe and effective vaccines. almost all of those 100,000 deaths are among the unvaccinated despite the fact that they could have gotten vaccinated, almost all of those 100,000 deaths were preventable, were unnecessary. this is what i am calling -- i don't even call it misinformation or disinformation, anymore. i call it death by anti-science aggression. and this is now become one of the leading killers in the united states, far more than global terrorism or nuclear proliferation or cyberattacks.

and yet, we really don't do anything to combat it. um, i have been calling this death by anti-science in writing and speaking about it now for a few years. and it's just gotten so out of control, and it's just completely heartbreaking. >> yeah. you know, the -- there's -- with that grim news, there's very promising news from merck to tell you -- everyone about. the first antiviral pill designed for covid-19. how does that work? is it a game-changer? >> yeah, actually, the -- the drug was actually first developed at emery university in atlanta. and it was developed as an anti-influenza drug and it was to inhibit virus replication. and then, it was subsequently shown it does -- it does this for the sars 2 coronavirus. it's a very interesting mechanism but actually introduces mutations while the virus is trying to replicate. and then, that eventually stops it cold and the -- and the great thing about it is it's an oral pill. although, it's a lot of pills. i think it's something like four

pills twice a day. so you might take 40 pills or so. but it works in terms of reducing the hospitalizations by half. and in the control group, this was 775 patients with -- with sars 2 coronavirus. there were eight deaths in the control, and none in the treatment group. so it's still not a huge study. but it was so compelling that the data safety monitoring board said, stop, we -- this -- this looks like it's really promising, and i think on this basis, merck and company will file for emergency-use authorization. um, it has limits. um, it -- you have to take it very early on in the course of the illness. probably, a day or two after symptoms. u um, you have to know that you are antigen positive so there is going to be some infrastructure that has to be put in place. um, but merck is planning on success and i think they are trying to produce 10 million tablets by the end of the year. the other exciting part of this, don, is unlike vaccines which are very hard to reproduce in scale all over the world. this one is relatively

straightforward. so just like india makes anti-retro viral drugs, they should be able to make this one. and i think the plans are to have at least five generic drug manufacturers in india and elsewhere start producing it. so, i think the key message, though, to take home for tonight is it's not a substitute for getting vaccinated. >> that was my next question. >> vaccinating against covid-19. >> let me get to that. just real quick, how many pills a day you said? >> my understanding is it's four pills, twice a day. so for -- for five days. so eight pills a day for five days, 40 pills. >> okay, got it. five days, 40 pills. i thought you were saying in one day. i was like that's a lot of pills. i get it. but let's just -- i want to drill down on what you were saying because if the drug proves to be as effective as the company claims, are you worried vaccine-hesitant people might say oh, there is a pill i can take, why do i need to get the shot? >> that's exactly right. i don't -- i don't want this to become ivermectin version 2.0. it's not as good as getting vaccinated. um, it is a reduction in

severity of illness. but there's going to be a big range in how people respond and it's vaccination that's going to save your life, ultimately. >> yeah. so, this is not an alternative. to -- you should get the vaccine and if you happen to get covid, this is approved. then take it. right? yeah. >> yep, absolutely. >> okay. >> and -- >> okay. so, listen. did you want to add something before i go? i want to talk about california. >> no, go ahead. >> california adding the covid vaccine to its list of required vaccines to attend in-person schooling. it's going to be phased in as the fda approval comes. that could still be as early as the end of this month. so should mandatory covid vaccines be the national standard, sir? >> yeah. ideally. the problem is this, don. that, um, school vaccine mandates are regulated at the state level. so california's kind of the tip of the spear on this. they are moving forward, and i think that's great. i think other states will follow. but it's likely to go along a

partisan divide, you know, here in texas where we have a very aggressive anti-vaccine lobby that lobbies the state legislature. i think, you know, we are going to be one of the last to adopt it, tragically. but no question, that if we could implement vaccine mandates for the schools, it will get the kids safely through the school year. especially, because we have approvals pending likely for the 5 to 11-year-olds in a few weeks of the vrbpac committee is going to be meeting and the fda is going to be meeting in october, middle of october. so that's really exciting so the sooner we could do did, the better. but i think you are going to see a lot of variation, state by state. >> all right. doctor, thank you. i appreciate it. >> you're be theest. thanks. >> he said it was a credit to jewish people that protestors use the star of david to oppose a mask mandate. and take this. now, the mayor of anchorage is apologizing. at aspen dental, we help you find your happy place like milkshake mustaches high fives and high dives. or 3-on-3s... 2-on-2s... and 1-on-1s.

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with hydration that beats the $400 cream. tried. tested. never bested. shop at olay.com okay. take this. a big-city mayor apologizing. anchorage mayor dave bronson now, quote, truly sorry for comments he made about some of his residents wearing stars of david to oppose a city mask mandate. listen. >> we've referenced the star of david quite a bit here tonight, but there was a formal message that came out within jewish culture about that, and the message was never again. >> yes. >> that's an ethos, and that's what that star really means is we will not forget. this will never happen again. and i think us borrowing that from them is actually a credit to them.

>> never again? how about never again referencing the holocaust when talking about mask mandates? the anti-defamation league of the pacific northwest condemning the comments as disturbing and offensive. the mayor a self-described center-right conservative opposes the mask mandate, but he is now releasing a statement that reads -- and i quote -- i should have chosen my words more carefully, and if i offended anyone, i am truly sorry. i understand that we should not trivialize or compare what happened during the holocaust to a mask mandate, and i want to apologize for any perception that my statements support or compare what happened to the jewish people in nazi germany. he should apologize because there is no comparison. but sadly, the mayor and the star-wearing protesters aren't the first to equate critical public health measures to the third reich. >> science and laws shouldn't be changing so fast. has nuremberg taught us nothing of medical tyranny of the past?

>> 1930s germany has many similarities here. we know in this room who would have turned in anne frank. we know that now. thanks for showing your colors. >> they will ask, how many vaccines have you had? have you been a good little nazi? heil fauci. heil fauci. >> seriously, what do you say to that? all of it, not just the last guy. and they're saying there's certain things we shouldn't teach in school? comparing the murder of 6 million jews in nazi germany to masks and vaccines isn't just offensive. it is unhinged. and yet you hear it over and over and over again, a false parallel pushed by republicans

like, you know, that marjorie woman. and right-wing media telling their viewers masks are tyranny. so let me make this very clear to you. vaccines are not masks. -- vaccines and masks, excuse me, are not naziism. vaccines and masks are not naziism. they are not the jim crow south. they are lifesaving public health measures that keep people and communities of all races and religions across all communities in this country safe. so up next, no deal yet. democrats say they need more time to negotiate. can they overcome their major differences to get biden's agenda through? we'll see. retirement, she'll wonder,ot "what if i could retire sooner?" and so she'll get some advice from fidelity, and fidelity will help her explore some different scenarios, like saving more every month.

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